Metal The Last Chapter
by Ian Potto
Summary: A SegaSonic series. Latest addtion: Metal Sky
1. "Umbra" - Prelude

"Umbra" - Prelude to the "Metal - The Last Chapter" series.  
Story (c) Ian Flynn  
Shadow the Hedgehog and all related material (c) Sega  
Based off of the events of the games Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2  
  
  
*****  
  
Imagine yourself as him for just a moment.   
  
"This is what you wanted...isn't it, Maria?" you ask as you fall. Such power, such speed - you never  
imagined you could have anything like this. The threat has been neutralized, and now your strength is  
spent. Strangely enough, you feel energy within you, about you, that could be utilized, but you feel  
unable to tap it. So you fall as you feel this power ebbs away.  
The heat. The heat is unlike anything you can imagine. You've been so close to exploding missiles  
that it made your teeth shake in your head. You've done combat with one who's blows can shatter  
steal. This heat is far more powerful than either. Your vision is clouded with a red haze as you drop,  
the stars fading from view, and the Earth growing ever larger below you. You've lost the ability to  
define continents, and soon the endless green will show more intricate details. But you doubt you'll see  
them.  
The heat is joined by something equally powerful now. The roar of the atmosphere as you rush past  
it, through it, burning brighter than the sun. It's deafening, but strangely bearable. That power has not  
left you yet, and the heat cannot seem to touch you, nor the noise to hammer you. That will pass soon,  
and then you will pass far more quickly. You have no regrets, for you have lived up to your word to  
her. And then she calls to you, from deep within those haunted corridors that are your memories...  
"Live, Shadow. Live and make the people happy."  
Of course. How could you have been so blind? Fending off the prototype and stopping the ARK  
was not the end. It was the beginning. You can help more. You must help more, for it is what she  
would have wanted, and it is what you promised her. That precious energy you need now is nearly  
gone. There is no time to curse yourself; only time to act. You focus now on that power: so distant, so  
intangible, yet there all the same. You hold your hands before you and say the words, even though the  
speed and the heat and the noise force the air from your lungs:  
"Chaos Control."  
There is that brief period of nonexistence, too brief to analyze, every time. Now you're back, but  
with much less heat, a little less noise, but no loss in speed. What was an endless coastline and blue has  
turned into grassy hills, conifer trees, and more blue. This blue is not the deep blue of the sea, nor is the  
white amongst it the cresting waves. It is the lighter blue of the sky, and the clouds that innocently drift  
through it. You feel the last of the power ebb away, and you suddenly feel an emptiness within your  
body. You feel cold within. Like when she died.   
The grass and hills blur around you, faster than you've ever gone on foot. The ground grows closer  
at a speed that alarms you, but that you cannot control. The wind howls in your ears until you hit, and  
then it's hard to tell what you see, hear, or feel. The world is now a frenzied kaleidoscope, and the  
sense of vertigo is mind-numbing. Finally, you feel yourself flop into a resting position on your face.   
With an effort, you see the trench you've dug as you've hit. You can't help but be impressed, at a basic  
level, that you've done so much damage without trying. But enough thinking like that. You have come  
to help the Earth and to make its people happy. You make an effort to move, but you realize there is  
nothing left to give. You have nothing left. So you sleep.   
  
*****  
  
Now, step back and watch him.  
  
Shadow awoke slowly, his head feeling heavy and his eyelid's sticky. The sun coming through the  
windows was an amber color and cast long shadows about the room. Shadow let his blood-red eyes  
slowly trace around the room. It was a small room, the walls made of wooden panels. He lay in a bed,  
also made of wood, and with a mattress and quilts made with the care of hand-crafted goods. Beside  
him, a small lamp sat on a bedside table, while a modestly colorful rug covered the floor at the foot of  
the bed. With a soft creak, the door to the room moved in towards the hedgehog. Shadow turned his  
eyes to the motion, his head following slowly behind.  
A single violet eye peered back at him. It gazed at Shadow for a moment, then locked with his  
eyes. A sparkle danced within the eye, and then a small girl bounded into the room. She was only six  
or seven, Shadow reasoned. She wore a simple dress colored the same deep green of the forests  
Shadow had flown over during his reentry. She hoped up onto the bed, jostling the hedgehog and  
causing her ebony black hair to bounce. She smiled brightly at Shadow. The hedgehog couldn't help  
but return the gesture.  
"Hello," he said quietly, the air unwillingly coming from his lungs.  
The word worked like a spell, and the girl was immediately entranced. She studied his hornlike  
spines with their deep blackness and startling red highlights. "Wow," she whispered.  
Shadow smiled gently. "Where am I?" he asked with a wheeze.  
"At my grandpa's" the girl answered with a moment of thought. It was hard to think of such trivial  
things when you're mystified, after all.  
Shadow nodded his head slightly. "He found me?"  
The girl shook her head vehemently, her hair flying around as she did so. She hooked a thumb to  
her chest. "I found you!" she announced happily.  
"I see," Shadow replied, chuckling lightly. "My mistake."  
"Are you that guy that helped Sonic stop the ARK?" the girl ask, crawling up the bed, then kneeling  
at Shadow's shoulder.  
"I am," the hedgehog replied, growing curious. How did such a young girl know of the ARK and its  
collision course with Earth? A voice called from beyond the door, but Shadow didn't catch the words  
as he was lost in thought. A man in his later years entered the room cautiously. He took in the scene  
quickly, and it was obvious he disapproved.   
"What did I tell you of disturbing him?" the old man asked the girl impatiently.  
"But he's awake now!" the girl insisted.  
"No thanks to you, I'm sure," the old man chastised. "Now out with you, and wash up for supper."  
The girl let out a defeated sigh and hopped down from the bed. "Yes, grandpa," she pouted as she  
left the room, dragging her feet every step of the way.  
Shadow watched her go with a bemused look. Then he turned his eyes to the grandfather. "Thank  
you, sir, for rescuing me."  
The old man's eyes hardened as he looked down at Shadow. The hedgehog saw that there were  
angry words unsaid in his face, but he didn't know how he would have earned his hate. The man turned  
to leave, only to stumble onto his granddaughter, who was looking back at Shadow in the doorway.  
"I won't tell you again, Maria!" the grandfather scolded.  
"I'm goin'! I'm goin'!" the girl replied quickly, mischief sparkling in her eyes as she scampered off  
and out of sight from the closing door. Shadow watched the door in silence for a long while, listening to  
the muffled sounds of the dinner beyond it, and downstairs - if he interpreted what he heard correctly.   
Shadow then turned his eyes to the ceiling, a smile creeping onto his face.  
"Maria," he said quietly.  
  
*****  
  
Shadow opened his eyes again at the sounds of the door opening again and the click of dishes. He  
had not been sleeping, nor had he been awake, but from when Maria and her grandfather left to then,  
the sky had lost its crimson hue and darkness had settled in the room. With the door open, the light of  
the hallway invaded, guiding the grandfather to Shadow's bedside lamp. Light held the room once  
more.   
Maria set a tray across Shadow's legs. The tray had obviously been designed for such 'breakfast'-  
in-bed occasions. The little girl scrambled up and in between Shadow's feet and proudly announced:  
"I get to give you supper tonight!"  
"Excellent," Shadow replied, smiling warmly.  
The grandfather went about lifting Shadow's head and stuffing pillows under his shoulders so that he  
was in a close facsimile of sitting up.  
"Careful of my spines," Shadow cautioned softly.  
"I don't think they'll break off," the old man replied softly, but with an edge to his words.  
"I mean I don't want you to cut yourself on them," Shadow replied evenly.  
Maria's grandfather gave Shadow a curious, studying look, then left the room. He left the door  
open, and the sound of his footsteps didn't end too far from the doorway. Shadow looked after him  
with concern, until Maria grabbed his attention by offering a spoonful of hot soup to him.  
"Do you think you can eat?" Maria asked, stretching over the tray precariously.  
"I hope so," Shadow said, the gentle smile returning to his features. "It seems too good to let it go to  
waste." The fact of the matter was, Shadow didn't know if he needed to eat. He had supped with  
some of Professor Robotnik's colleagues on the ARK some fifty years ago, but he had also gone weeks  
without food or drink. Nevertheless, he opened his mouth and took the soup in. It warmed him all the  
way down, and he savored the moment. He had forgotten the joys of eating.  
"Do you like it?" Maria asked, expectantly.  
"It's perfect," Shadow replied gently. While the soup did heat his insides, what warmed him more  
was the smile Maria gave him for his praise.   
'This is what Maria, my Maria, wanted,' Shadow thought to himself. And so the evening  
progressed, Maria spooning up soup and leaning dangerously over the tray to feed Shadow, who  
did his best to meet the spoon. There was a warm, wet patch on the quilt under Shadow's chin long  
before they were through.  
"How did you find me?" Shadow asked as he was fed.  
"We saw you falling from the sky," Maria answered, offering another spoonful. "I saw a really bright  
light in the sky, but I knew it wasn't a star, because it was daytime. That would be silly - to have a star  
in the daytime, huh?"  
Shadow suppressed a chuckle and ate. "Very silly."  
"But anyway, I saw that bright thing fall down, then it just kinda disappeared. Then I heard this loud  
crash up the mountain and I grabbed Grandpa, and we came up the mountain and found you." Maria  
offered another spoonful.  
"I'm lucky you saw me," Shadow said, accepting.  
"And when we found you, we went to see Mr. Potter, who got his truck and drove you down to the  
village, and then the doctor came, but he said he didn't know how to fix you. I told Grandpa he must  
be a stupid doctor if he couldn't fix you, but he told me to shush."  
"Your grandfather was right, though," Shadow said, having regained a little strength as the  
nourishment traveled through his system. "I'm sure he's a very good doctor. Besides, I'm not your  
ordinary mobian."  
"Oh," Maria replied, thinking that over for a minute. Then, offering another spoon of soup, she  
started right back into her story. "So, when the doctor said he couldn't fix you, he said he didn't think  
anything was broken, so all the grownups talked about who had room in their houses and what to do  
and stuff. Since Grandpa had an extra room, we put you here. And then you woke up later, and you  
were all better!"  
Shadow smirked. "I don't think I'm all better. It will take me a day or two to get back on my feet."  
"But you'll stay with us, right?" Maria asked, suddenly very worried.  
Shadow smiled quietly and was about to reply when Maria's grandfather entered.   
"Are you all done feeding him, Maria?" he asked.  
Maria looked into the empty bowl, then up to her grandfather. "Yes, but..."  
"Then it's off to bed."  
"But...!"  
"Maria, we had a deal," the grandfather said, waging one finger and smiling a little. "You got to  
feed...our guest...tonight, and then you'd go straight to bed."  
"But we were talking!"  
"There will be more time in the morning."  
Shadow noted that the grandfather said what that 'more time' would be for. Judging from his past  
demeanor, Shadow doubted he'd see much of this Maria.  
The girl let out a sigh and hopped down from the bed. "Good night, Mr. Shadow."  
Shadow blinked. "How do you..."  
"To bed, Maria," Grandpa interrupted. His granddaughter nodded, then left the room. The old man  
watched her down the hall, to ensure she went to bed, then walked over to the bed and took the tray  
from Shadow's lap.  
"We should talk," Shadow said.  
The grandfather paused, then gave the hedgehog a suspicious look.  
"Something's not right. That's apparent. It'd be best if Maria was spared any hostilities," Shadow  
explained, conveying what he didn't say outright with his eyes. The grandfather nodded in agreement,  
then left, closing the door behind him. Shadow sat in his island of light and silence Then, with what  
seemed to him to be tremendous effort, he removed the pillows from behind himself and turned off the  
light. For the second time that day, he slept.  
  
*****  
  
The next day was very much like the night before. Maria and her grandfather entered with a tray of  
food after they had finished their meal, Maria fed Shadow while Grandpa left the room, and then they  
both left him for a while. It was during this solitude that Shadow meditated. He picked at the loose  
strands of his memory and tried to follow them as far back as he could. Fifty years of suspended-  
animation had made his memory blurry.   
Some of the memories that returned to him were mundane days, helping out Professor Gerald  
Robotnik and his scientific colleagues. Some memories were of Maria Robotnik, and their talks. Some  
of the more vivid memories unfortunately turned out to be G.U.N.'s forces hunting him down and  
imprisoning him. Once he had relived these latter memories, he had to stop thinking all together, and he  
would concentrate on the quilt pattern, or the sensation of digesting food.  
He was just finishing one of these calming exercises then the grandfather entered his room alone.   
Out of habit, the old man half-closed the door and walked to one of the windows. Shadow, still sitting  
up from lunch, looked over at him. The silence hung heavy between them.  
"Maria?" Shadow asked.  
"Playing at a friend's house," the grandfather answered quietly.  
Shadow nodded his understanding. This was good; now it was time to get everything out in the  
open. "How does she know who I am? Or about the A.R.K.?"  
The grandfather turned, a solemn look to his features. "It was gobally televised. Dr. Eggman had  
set up a series of satellites to televise the use of his Eclipse Cannon on the Earth. Instead, we watched  
the colony nearly hit us."  
Shadow was taken aback. He hadn't known the grandson of Prof. Robotnik had gone so far.   
"Then, why do you hate me?"  
The grandfather took in a breath, setting his words straight in his head. "If you were Sonic the  
Hedgehog, I suppose I'd hate you more and with better reason, but I have no use for crazy hedgehogs  
or the disaster they bring."  
"I'm afraid I don't understand," Shadow said.  
"Every time Dr. Robotnik, or Dr. Eggman, or whatever that loon calls himself....whenever he shows  
up, Sonic does too. One's supposed to be a villain, and one's supposed to be a hero, but neither of  
them have regard for those around them. The doctor wants to rule the world, no matter what, and that  
hot-shot hedgehog wants to show off more than save the people."  
Shadow glared. Sonic wasn't showy in as much as he was adventurous. And when the fate of the  
world was nearly sealed by the Biolizard's rage, Sonic chanced death and went to stop the monster.   
To hold him with such little respect was angering.  
"How can you say that?" Shadow asked, sneering.  
The grandfather smiled mirthlessly. "Don't you wonder where Maria's parents are?"  
Shadow replied with silence.  
"My daughter, her husband and Maria once lived in Station Square. The doctor tried to blow it up,  
but was stopped - not by Sonic - but by that little fox. Sonic didn't show up until Perfect Chaos had  
leveled half the city and drowned over three hundred thousand people. Maria survived by a miracle.   
Now I take care of my little orphan granddaughter."  
Shadow had nothing to say to that at first. When he and Dr. Eggman had first begun preparing the  
Eclipse Cannon, they had talked a little of Perfect Chaos, but never had it been mentioned that so many  
innocents had died. But the issue at hand was making peace with Maria's grandfather. Dr. Eggman's  
reckoning would come later.  
"I knew a Maria, once," Shadow said quietly.  
The grandfather didn't seem impressed.  
"She helped me find who I was...or she set me on the right path at least."  
"And what's that?"  
"To make the people of Earth happy," Shadow said earnestly. "When I jumped out of that airlock, I  
did so to give the people of Earth a chance to be happy. That's all I want for you, for your Maria, or  
anyone else."  
The grandfather was silent for a moment. "And what became of your Maria?"  
"She was murdered by people who cared nothing for happiness," Shadow replied. "I promised her  
as she died before my eyes that I would make the people happy. It was what she wanted."  
Again the grandfather was silent. Then he left the room without a word. A few hours later, Maria  
returned and talked with Shadow, uninterrupted. He mealtime conversations with Shadow for the  
following two days were also without purposeful interruption, and the animosity Shadow once felt from  
the grandfather was gone. Shadow felt his strength returning, and he had grown quite fond of Maria.   
This little mountain village of her's would be the perfect place for him to start his work with and for the  
people of Earth.  
  
*****  
  
Shadow awoke with a start. It was supposed to be dark. He had only gone to sleep a few hours  
ago. Yet outside his window, bright lights were on, some moving back and forth. The hedgehog had a  
bad feeling, and it was proven to be well-founded quickly as a G.U.N. patrol pod hovered up to one of  
the windows, it's single turbine turning and its single headlight illuminating Shadow in a wash of red light.   
Shadow was barely out of bed and on his feet when the door crumped in half and swung out of the  
doorway. A pair of G.U.N. assault droids marched in, their one cannon arm aimed at Shadow, the  
other free hand grabbing at his arms. Shadow had nowhere to move, no way to resist...yet. He  
allowed himself to be captured and hauled down the stairs.   
Outside, the village square was a nightmare. Shadow had only seen it a little from the window of his  
room when Maria helped him out of bed. Now, the houses were dark except where the patrol pods  
shone their lights. A few missile hives floated around in the air, their six metal arms holding onto a  
half-dozen homing missiles. A dozen trucks and vans, all black and boasting the G.U.N. insignia, were  
parked between the homes. There was no sign of the villagers.  
The assault droids marched Shadow over to a relatively young officer who was conferencing with  
another G.U.N. soldier. He turned to Shadow and smirked darkly, then dismissed the solider, who  
went to join the other shadowed bodies that marched through the village.  
"So we have the infamous ultimate life-form back in our grasp at last," the officer said.  
"And you are?" Shadow asked darkly.  
"Commander Frederick Creed, C.O. of Dragonfly Troupe of G.U.N. You, Shadow, need no  
such introduction."  
"What do you want with me?"  
Creed smiled. "What G.U.N. wanted you for in the first place, in addition to saving face. After that  
whole ARK-fiasco, the public's confidence has been a bit shaken. With you behind bars again, and  
your story released to the press, the world will see we can at least keep you from doing any further  
damage."  
"I'm not interested in world domination or destruction, Creed," Shadow replied with a sneer. "I  
thought my efforts against the Biolizard proved that."  
"Whatever your position is now, it is irrelevant," Creed replied sharply. "Your capture means that  
G.U.N. has the most powerful weapon at our disposal, public confidence and support, and it saves my  
ass in the process."  
"How so?" Shadow asked.  
"Let's just say there are more hedgehogs out there than you would think. Not to mention cats and  
weasels..." the commander trailed off, a sour look coming to his face.  
"Where's Maria?" Shadow demanded, losing patience with the young commander.  
"Who?" Creed asked, a nasty smirk coming to his face. The searchlights cast disturbing shadows  
on his features.  
"The girl who lived in the house I was in," Shadow answered, a growing sense of dread forming  
heavy in his stomach.  
"Oh, her," Creed replied nonchalantly. "Well, you see Shadow, you're such a mean little S.O.B.  
that when you used your Chaos Control to escape to Earth, your first act was to raze this whole village.   
No survivors. No witnesses."   
As if on cue, the missiles hives launched their caches, leveling half the village in a fireball. Only the  
star-shaped robots remained in the fiery glow. Shadow was speechless, a mixture of emotions too  
deep and too conflicting for him to handle or understand twisting within him. Creed let out a low  
whistle of appreciation at the firestorm, then smiled darkly at Shadow.  
"You're good," he complimented sarcastically.  
"You're a monster!" Shadow roared, straining against the grip of the assault droids.  
Creed snorted in amusement. "I'm gentle compared to the commanders of some of the other  
troupes. It's the way of the world, hedgehog. If G.U.N. doesn't do it, someone else will, or has  
already beaten us to it. That's just how things work."  
"But it's wrong!" Shadow exclaimed.  
Creed shrugged. "The people don't care, and there's nothing to stop us otherwise. I doubt they'd  
raise too much of a fuss in the end, anyway."  
"No," Shadow sobbed, the fight leaving him as he hung between the assault droids. "I was  
supposed to make the people happy."  
Creed looked down at the hedgehog's form and shook his head. "Pathetic. That's what you are:  
absolutely pathetic. You're the ultimate life-form, not some bleeding heart."  
"I promise Maria..." Shadow whimpered.  
Creed scoffed. "I wouldn't make too many more promises, Shadow. I've read your file, and you  
seem to have a pretty lousy track record with Marias. They always end up going before their time."  
It would have been easier for Creed to simply pull the pin from a grenade and swallow it, rather than  
saying that. The effect, either way, was explosive. Creed looked away to watch the bombing of the  
second half of the village, and missed the sound of shredding metal in the explosions. He turned just in  
time to catch Shadow's foot right in his gut. The commander went flying and bounced off the side of  
one of the vans ten feet away. It took the G.U.N. soldiers and robots a full thirty seconds to realize  
Shadow was free and hostile. It cost them.  
With a blazing yellow-orange after-glow, the hedgehog made short work of the armed patrol pods  
and assault droids. The missile hives, having spent their loads on the building filled with the dead, were  
useless metal stars, hovering in the red evening. Some soldiers armed themselves and attempted to  
apprehend Shadow themselves. But spines that could shatter steal did worse to human flesh. The  
majority of the Dragonfly Troupe, Commander Creed included, loaded up in their vans and trucks and  
beat a hasty retreat. Shadow was not through, however.  
The jets within the soles of his shoes flared as he chased down the fleeing vehicles, his arms and legs  
swaying like that of an Olympic skater. With a few well place homing spin-attacks, a number of the  
vehicles went screeching off the thin mountain roads, crumpling or exploding far below in the darkness.   
Shadow only stopped when his anger and energy were spent. He kneeled in the street, gasping for air,  
angry tears standing in his eyes and staining his cheeks. He watched the remaining vehicles drive away.   
Commander Creed had escaped.  
Slowly, Shadow stood. He turned and looked to the red sky rising from the mountain. The  
grandfather had been right; hedgehogs did bring disaster. And Shadow had lost yet another Maria.   
Shadow's fists clenched hard, but not enough to satisfy his anger. Creed had said that his brutality was  
the way of the world. That the people didn't care. Shadow decided he would make them care. He  
didn't know how, but he had to somehow bring the people together and act as they should. The only  
man he knew who had any experience with controlling people on a global scale was Dr. Ivo "Eggman"  
Robotnik.  
Shadow sighed. He would have to find the doctor again, aid him in his endeavors, then destroy him  
at the very end. Then Shadow would have the world in the palm of his hand, and he would control the  
people. Organizations like G.U.N. would not exist. And the people would be happy. He would show  
them how to be happy; how they should be happy. He would fulfill his promise to Maria Robotnik,  
whether the world liked it or not.  
  
And Shadow walked into the night.  
  
  
THE END 


	2. "Metal Earth" - Part I

"Metal Earth" - Part one of the "Metal - The Last Chapter" Series  
Story (c) Ian Flynn  
Sonic and all related material (c) Sega  
Ashura (c) Kiken  
This story is based upon the events of the Sonic the Hedgehog games by Sega.  
  
**Chapter One**  
  
The mountainous region around what was called 'Pumpkin Hill' always managed to look bleak.   
Even as the sun sank low in the sky, what would otherwise be a beautiful sunset merely gave the  
surrounding stone a dull orange tinge. What didn't help matters was the perpetually mournful low howl  
of the wind. And despite the unappealing scenery, Sonic couldn't think of a better place to be. For this  
situation, that was.   
The blue hedgehog stood atop one of the tapering hills, the ruins of a once prosperous mining  
operation baring their rusted metal skeletons to him. A few feet away, a headstone marked the passing  
of some nameless worker who had been long forgotten. Death and lost potential seemed to be a heavy  
theme in the surroundings, and still Sonic found the setting perfect. The wind whipped around his bare  
arms, and Sonic suppressed a shiver.  
"You have to show off in everything, don't you?" a snide voice chided from behind him. "Can't even  
admit that you're cold."   
Sonic turned to see what was nearly a mirror image of himself. The hedgehog standing before him  
had bright green fur, with black highlights along his eyebrows and running up the middle of his top spine.   
The black highlights also ran down his legs and around his stomach, but the last marking were hidden  
from view by the leather windbreaker the hedgehog wore. One long, black lock of hair curled over the  
hedgehog's eyebrows, almost like a reversed spine.  
"Nice of you to show up, bro," Sonic replied with a smirk. "Nice jacket."  
Ashura the Hedgehog sneered slightly. "Thank you."   
Sonic chuckled lightly and shook his head in a mixture of amusement and disgust. For a long while,  
the twin hedgehogs stood in silence, taking in the sunset and the bleak panoramic view about it.   
After another empty howl of the wind, Ashura said, "Sonic? Why do we keep meeting here? It's  
depressing."  
"You chose the spot," Sonic replied.  
"Yeah, but that's because I had a dead body hidden out here, and I was paranoid about somebody  
finding it."  
"You killed somebody?" Sonic asked, aghast.  
"He pissed me off," Ashura replied with a shrug.  
"And you trusted your location with me?" Sonic marveled.  
Ashura smirked darkly. "Hey, I knew you wouldn't stoop so low as to turn in your own brother," he  
said. Sonic gave Ashura a suspicious look, for the green hedgehog's words had possessed an odd  
edge to them. But Ashura looked away and back to the sunset.  
After a moment of thought, Sonic dismissed his misgivings. "Well, we could always stop meeting,"  
he offered.  
"You wouldn't dare," Ashura scolded in disgust.  
"I know," Sonic replied, smirking. "But I figure mom wouldn't want us to meet any more than we  
had to, despite our promise"  
"Once a year is too much for you, huh?" Ashura asked, sneering at the thought of more family.  
"I worry about you, Ashura," Sonic said, all his bravado and adventurous pretenses dropped.   
"You're scum, but you're my brother, so I guess I have to care about you a little."  
"You're breaking my heart," Ashura snorted.  
"Why do you keep up the bad guy routine?"  
Ashura turned his deep brown eyes to Sonic, giving his brother a smouldering look. "Because we  
can't all be as special as you, brother."  
Sonic sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. It was the same routine every time they met. Better to  
move on so they could part ways. "So, what have you learned since last year?"  
Ashura's ugly look turned into equally ugly smugness. "Well, I learned just about everything you did  
since last year, bro."  
Sonic made a speculative noise. "The homing attack, huh?"  
"Yep."  
"Then what about the bounce?"  
"Easy."  
Sonic blinked. Ashura usually didn't catch onto the new techniques so quickly. "How about that  
slick grinding move?"  
Ashura held up one foot for Sonic to inspect. The instep was reenforced for gripping onto bars.   
"SOAP is a wonderful company."  
"Those are stolen, aren't they?" Sonic said with a smirk.  
"No," Ashura hissed, "Some of us are smart enough to work for a living so they can buy things."  
"Alright," Sonic said, crossing his arms. "I'll be impressed if you can truthfully tell me you learned  
how to do the Chaos Control."  
Ashura lowered his foot and shook his head slowly, a curiously amused smile growing on his face.   
"Nope. You beat me out there, bro. But I saw it on the live satellite broadcast. You and that Shadow  
fellow put the whole colony back in orbit with just two words. That was awesome."  
"Thanks," Sonic said quietly. It was so unusual for Ashura to willingly give up a sincere compliment,  
and it caught Sonic off-guard. It also made him all the more suspicious.  
"Y'know," Ashura said, turning to smile at the red setting sun, "I heard that G.U.N. got in some real  
hot water for the whole thing."  
"Not surprising," Sonic replied, trying to play things as casually as he could. "They got busted for  
cleaning out the ARK fifty years ago, and for wrongfully hunting down a hero." The hedgehog couldn't  
help but smile at the last bit.  
Ashura's confident smile didn't falter, however. "Word is that some of the troupes went rogue when  
the head brass got called before the U.N. courts."  
"I hadn't heard that," Sonic admitted. A tiny voice in the back of his mind was warning him  
something was very wrong.  
"They also say that some of those rogue troupes would blame you for everything going bad in  
G.U.N.," Ashura continued, his chest swelling with pride over something.  
"'They' sure are saying a lot, brother," Sonic replied, emphasizing the last word.  
Ashura turned to face Sonic, a dark smile and its shadows accented by the quickly retreating sun.   
"Yeah. And 'they' can offer wonderful rewards."  
Things finally clicked within Sonic's mind. He scowled at the green hedgehog. "So much for not  
turning in your own brother," he sneered.  
Ashura shrugged. "I'm supposed to be the evil twin, remember? But hey, I'm not a complete louse.   
I'll give you a chance to scoot out the back door of their trap."  
"If?" Sonic asked. Nothing Ashura granted came without a price.  
"If," Ashura replied cockily, "You tell me how to do that Chaos Control move."  
Sonic let out a short burst of laughter and folded his arms. "You kinda need a Chaos Emerald to  
use Chaos Control."  
"You let me worry about that part," Ashura retorted, his patience growing short. "Just tell me how  
to do it."  
"It's easy," Sonic said, holding out one arm as if to hail a taxi. "You just hold onto it and say 'Chaos  
Control'!"  
"I won't be mocked by you, Sonic," Ashura growled, "And you're in no position to play games.   
Now tell me how you do it!"  
Sonic crossed his arms again and shook his head, smiling pleasantly. "That's all there is to it."  
"Fine," Ashura spat. "Maybe they'll drag it out of you with some kind of slow torture." The green  
hedgehog pulled back the cuff of his jacket, revealing a wrist-mounted radio. "Your turn, Creed," he  
said into the tiny microphone.  
Sonic's ears perked as the sound of rotor blades began to build in the distant hills. Sonic had faced  
G.U.N.'s assault troupes before, but that had been when their orders were to capture him and bring him  
in alive. If Ashura was telling the truth about rogue troupes, then the G.U.N. operatives wouldn't be  
pulling their punches this time.   
Sonic looked around quickly, trying to find a way out. With luck, the decaying rails of what used to  
be a mine cart track hung drunkenly out of the hillside. With one deft jump, Sonic left the solid ground.   
Now the only thing between him and a one forty-story straight drop was a bit of rusting metal not five  
inches thick. The grooves of Sonic's grinding shoes slipped around the railing perfectly, and with a  
metallic screech, Sonic zoomed down towards the cliffs below.  
"He's heading off to the east by rail," Ashura barked into his radio. "You better hurry up already."  
"You're his twin brother," a voice barked back over the tiny speaker, "Chase after him and slow him  
down."  
"That wasn't part of the deal!" Ashura snarled.  
"I've got six choppers closing on your position, Agent Daemon. It's real easy for heat seeking  
missiles to mistake one hedgehog for another," the tiny voice snarled back.  
Ashura angrily pulled the cuff of his jacket over the radio and spat out a string of obscenities before  
leaping onto the other rail and grinding after Sonic.   
Sonic had a good lead on his brother, and even more-so on the G.U.N. forces. The Blue Blur leapt  
from cliff to cliff, climbing up the thin spires of rock, occasionally crossing between the pillars by riding  
the rails that now hung over the emptiness of the wind-swept valleys. But a few minutes of aimless  
running and grinding left Sonic on an especially small spire with no way to go but back. Sonic turned,  
planning to double-back and find another route, but Ashura was already half-way along the last length  
of railing. In the distance, the last rays of twilight glinted off the grey skin of the approaching G.U.N.  
helicopters.   
With a dramatic flip, Ashura left the rail and landed abreast of his brother. "Looks like you're  
trapped," he said, puffing lightly.  
Sonic scowled at his brother briefly, then looked back at the advancing helicopters. He couldn't  
advance any further, and going back meant dropping himself right into G.U.N.'s lap. He couldn't fly  
like Tails, so that tossed out the 'up' option, and down meant almost certain death. Sonic smirked to  
himself. 'Almost' was the operative word there.  
"I might be able to negotiate with them," Ashura offered, having nearly regained his breath. "You  
know, convince them to allow you to live. That is, of course, if you teach me how to..."  
"You know what sets us apart, Ashura?" Sonic interrupted.  
Ashura started. "What?"  
Sonic gave his brother a confident smirk. "You just don't know how to take a chance." With that,  
Sonic leapt onto the rail and began to grind towards the oncoming helicopters. The railing dipped in the  
middle. Sonic had needed to build up enough momentum to ride it up to his dead-end. Now he  
crouched again, the wind whipping and snapping in his ears; his spines fluttering tightly in the wind.   
Two of the helicopters dropped out of formation and accelerated. The side doors opened and wide net  
quickly flew open between the craft. It was held high enough that Sonic couldn't jump over, and it  
dropped too low for him to duck underneath.  
"What is he doing, Agent Daemon?" the tiny voice called, muffled in the jacket cuff.  
"I don't know," Asura replied, but not into the radio. He watched his brother intently. The net was  
less than a meter away from grabbing up the world hero when he suddenly dropped to the left, his feet  
leaving the railing. With a mid-air cartwheel, Sonic's hand snapped up and grabbed the ridge of the  
railing. The net and helicopters thundered over him, and the hedgehog kept sliding right along. As soon  
as the net was past, Sonic gave a jerk with his body, flipped upwards, and landed on the railing again,  
grinding to the end and landing on solid ground.  
"That son of a bitch," Ashura breathed, a tight smile crossing his face. Just when he thought Sonic  
was a complete idiot, he would do something brilliant like that. And it made him hate his brother all the  
more.  
The four other helicopters spun around, each coming perilously close to each other in their frantic  
attempt to change course. Sonic gave them a quick smile and salute, then disappeared over a ridge in  
the rock pillar. Ashura waited until the six helicopter had begun their chase of the hedgehog before he  
caught a ride across the railing to the other spire. He didn't even dare attempt the insane stunt Sonic  
had just pulled. Ashura watched the tops of the spires for signs of Sonic as the helicopters fanned out  
and began to canvas the area. Moments later, the tiny muffled radio voice returned to annoy Ashura  
again.  
"Agent Daemon!"  
Ashura pulled the cuff of his jacket back and raised his wrist to his mouth. "What is it, Creed?"  
"We've lost visual contact of the target. Where is he?"  
"How should I know?" Ashura sneered. He looked across the rocky crags bathed in the pale  
darkness of the early evening. There was no sign of his brother. Sonic the Hedgehog had proven once  
more that he was the fastest thing alive.  
  
  
**Chapter Two**   
  
Over the Atlantic Ocean, the weather would have been called relatively clear. For Angel Island, the  
forecast wasn't so, even though it glided silently over that ocean. The floating continent had found its  
way into a fluffy cumulus cloud and had shrouded everything in wisps of grey and white. On Shrine  
Isle, which was attached to the mainland of Angel Island by one rickety bridge, the experience was a  
little unnerving. The chao that lived around the Master Emerald Shrine were unsettled, their emotion  
dots curled into question marks and spirals of dismay. Chaos has risen from its dormant state, having  
sensed its children's fear. But even the former God of Destruction could sense the lack of ill-will in the  
cloud, and it simply stood near by to assuage the fears of its children.  
Tikal took this moment to distance herself from the chao. While she loved them almost as much as  
Chaos did, she didn't want to take the chance she startled one and pushed Chaos' limited reasoning  
abilities too far. The last thing she needed was a monster composed of sentient water attacking her  
miles above the surface of the Earth. So the young echidna climbed the steps of the shrine to gaze upon  
the Master Emerald. Its brilliant green light cut through the haze like a lighthouse perched among the  
crags of a foggy coast. Tikal stood before the large, slowly rotating gem.  
"How are you today, Controller?" she asked it quietly, smiling gently.  
"Fine," a voice replied, "But forget that 'Controller' stuff. Knuckles will do."  
Tikal looked towards the voice, a wry smile on her face. A few feet away, partially obscured by the  
haze, was Knuckles. He too was studying the Master Emerald. He turned his eyes to Tikal, a small  
smirk forming on his muzzle.  
"And I thought Sonic was the joker amongst you," Tikal teased.  
"I've already tried everything else I know of to ease my mind, so I tried humor this time," the  
Guardian replied, his smirk falling as he turned a concerned look towards the Master Emerald.  
Tikal's smile also died. "And did it work?"  
"No," Knuckles replied flatly.  
Tikal went to the Guardian's side and peered at the gem, wondering what he was looking at so  
seriously. She saw nothing. "What's wrong?" she asked at length.  
Knuckles looked at Tikal for a long silent moment. She hated it when he did that. She had a way of  
telling what people were thinking or feeling at times, but with Knuckles, it was like trying to look  
through a brick wall. She couldn't feel what he was thinking or was worried about, and it disturbed her.   
Finally, Knuckles asked: "You spent a few hundred years within the Master Emerald. Didn't you learn  
to sense its power in any way?"  
"Of course," Tikal replied, puzzled by Knuckles' question. "In the months I worked with Chaos and  
the chao, and came to know the Master Emerald very closely. It taught me how to work with its  
power. Why?"  
Knuckles studied her again for a moment before replying with: "Then can't you feel that something is  
wrong?"  
Tikal looked back at the gem, its emerald green light washing over her face. There was something  
amiss in the power that emanated from the Master Emerald, but what exactly was wrong was elusive.   
Tikal had thought she had sensed it before, but had dismissed it as pointless worrying on her part. She  
looked back at Knuckles, puzzled. "I do feel something, but I can't concentrate on it."  
Knuckles didn't reply. Instead, he looked back to the gem and held one gloved hand over its  
surface. Tikal watched as Knuckles' eyes scanned over the crystalline surface, searching something  
out. Then, cued by something Tikal didn't see, the Guardian placed his hand firmly on the Master  
Emerald and nearly stopped its slow rotation.   
"There," he said quietly, motioning a little with a nod of his head. Tikal peered under Knuckles' arm,  
studying the many facets of the gem. Then, with a sharp gasp, she saw what Knuckles had already  
caught: There was a flaw running about a pencil's length along one of the sides. Tikal stepped back,  
trying to think of what the implications of this might mean. Knuckles spoke as if reading her thoughts.  
"I didn't piece it back together incorrectly. The Master Emerald brought itself back together once I  
found all its pieces. I thought of shattering and repairing it again, but I got a strong negative sense from  
it when I was about to try."  
"So that means..." Tikal began.  
"It means that there's either an emerald fragment missing that's so small I can't sense it."  
"Or?"  
"Or," Knuckles finished gravely, "It means that all the shattering and repairing has flawed the Master  
Emerald to a degree that can't be corrected."  
"But the power of the Emeralds is perfect," Tikal objected. "Surely their Controller would follow  
suit."  
"There's a lot of things about the Emeralds that shouldn't be, but is," Knuckles replied. "For  
instance, the fact that they're unique in power and can't be duplicated?"  
"Of course."   
"Well, Tails made a fake Chaos Emerald."  
"I don't believe it," Tikal replied flatly.  
"He admitted it was underpowered compared to the real thing," Knuckles admitted, "But that its  
properties were the same. Sonic even managed to utilize the Chaos Control method with the fake  
emerald."  
Tikal was silent for a long moment. The only sounds on the isle were the nervous coos of the chao.   
Tikal shivered and wiped away some of the droplets that the cloud had left on her exposed fur. "What  
does that mean for us, then?"  
"I wish I knew," Knuckles replied quietly. "All I know is that the old strategy of shattering the  
Master Emerald and regaining its pieces after the threat has passed is no longer an option."  
Tikal nodded and stood in silent contemplation for a moment. Then, without a word, she walked to  
the far side of the shrine and sat on the stairs, letting the shrine block some of the cloud. Knuckles  
stood in the haze, the occasional water droplet congealing and sliding down his red fur. His eyes  
continued to study the Master Emerald, hoping that what he had shown Tikal was the only flaw.  
  
**Chapter Three**   
  
Dr. Ivo 'Eggman' Robotnik looked out of the view port and down at the blue-green orb that turned  
imperceptibly below him. It had only been a month ago that he had been standing in the same place,  
watching that orb grow very quickly. The long neck of the Biolizard would swing into his view on  
occasion, as would the comet-like flights of Super Sonic and Hyper Shadow. Now, the ARK was  
casually floating above the Earth without any hint of falling again.  
There had been a brief outcry from the world when Dr. Eggman announced that he was going to  
remain on the ARK. After all, the world had watched as its much vaunted Eclipse Cannon blasted a  
chuck out of the moon with its laser. But with combined report by Tails and G.U.N. officials confirming  
that it was the only weapon on the ARK, and no longer functioning to boot, the demand for Dr.  
Eggman's return to Earth quieted. It was now a widely accepted notion that it was more of an exile for  
the madman. And despite how much Dr. Eggman tried to convince himself otherwise, it seemed true.  
He had initially opted to stay behind because he was certain his grandfather had some other super  
weapon hidden deep within the bowels of the space colony. To his dismay, Tails and G.U.N. were  
right. Now, with his teleporter in Egypt disabled, he was literally stranded in space. Things weren't  
totally without loss, however. A few hours spent accessing the central computer hive programs, and  
the G.U.N. robots stopped trying to kill him. As a matter of fact, he had a small militia's worth of  
G.U.N. weapons and robots...but no way of getting them to Earth. Besides, he reasoned, Sonic and  
Tails would make short work of them anyway.  
With a sigh, Dr. Eggman returned to the computer console and checked on the repair of space  
shuttle Sonic and his friends had used to get to the ARK. While it was repairable, it would take the  
better part of a year, and Dr. Eggman didn't want to wait that long. With a frustrated roar, he banged  
his fists on the control panel once, then let out a long, heavy sigh.  
"And to think," he muttered aloud, "I brought this upon myself. I should have finished them all off  
myself." But that would have been disastrous, he admitted to himself. Without the aid of Sonic and his  
friends, the Biolizard would have succeeded in obliterating all life on Earth, and their was no point of  
having an empire of the dead. Suddenly, there was an alert from one of the patrol pods that had been  
reprogrammed to search out the ARK for anything important. With a few keystrokes, Dr. Eggman sent  
one of the assault droids to retrieve whatever the pod had discovered.  
He waited impatiently for almost a half-hour for the assault droid to enter the command center, but it  
was worth the wait. After Sonic and Shadow had used the Chaos Emeralds to obtain their other forms,  
the gems had scattered across Earth. But what the assault droid brought the madman was almost as  
good as a Chaos Emerald. It was Tails' fake emerald, left behind by Sonic after he first teleported onto  
the ARK via the Chaos Control technique. Dr. Eggman snatched the gem from the robot and turned it  
in his fingers greedily. How to use it was the question now. The human looked about the command  
center self-consciously, then raised one arm out with the fake emerald clasped tightly in his hand.  
"Chaos Control!" he called.   
Nothing happened.  
Dr. Eggman muttered and dropped his arm. It was worth a try. With a sigh, Dr. Eggman sat  
heavily at the console and looked at his multiple reflections in the fake Chaos Emerald. At least when  
the shuttle was repaired, he reasoned, he would have a way to power it.  
  
**Chapter Four**   
  
Nack the Weasel let out a sharp cry as he went flying out a window of the hotel. The purple  
mobian snapped around in mid-air, pointing his feet towards the ground. He was in luck. The weasel  
landed on a taught awning and used it to spring back into the air. He flipped, then landed dramatically.   
While the humans on the street paused to gawk, Nack stood, snatched his game hat as it floated down,  
and secured it to his head once more.  
"Well that was fun," he muttered. A cry rang out above him, and Nack reacted just in time to catch  
Rouge by the shoulders as she dove from the window and tackled him. The two rolled across the dusty  
road, scattering the robed human spectators. The mass of mobian crashed against one of the buildings  
across the street. It ended with Rouge having pinned Nack beneath her, the weasel's head painfully up  
against the building's front.  
"Now hold on," Nack wheezed, "I don't think I'm ready for such a physical relationship."  
Rouge hissed and freed one arm long enough to punch Nack in the face.  
"I'm not into S&M either," Nack murmur, his cheek immediately beginning to swell.  
"Where are my diamonds, thief?" Rouge demanded.  
"What do you care?" Nack replied dryly. "I heard you were out of the habit of treasure hunting."  
With a deliberate slowness, Rouge closed her clawed fingertips around Nack throat. "Old habits  
are hard to break," she replied darkly.  
"Apparently," Nack replied, swallowing hard and feeling the action press the claws deeper.  
"Now I'll ask you again," Rouge said slowly, "Where are my diamonds?"  
"In my room," Nack said. The claws dug deeper. "Honest! I was about to look through them  
before you stormed in and kicked my tail out the window."  
Rouge glared down at the weasel, then left him in one quick movement. She had climbed the  
outside of the hotel and entered the window Nack had flown out of before the weasel had regained his  
feet. Nack rubbed at his throat gingerly.  
"Y'know," he muttered to himself, "It's not like I didn't enjoy being under such a lady." He fished a  
remote control from his belt. He smirked a little, his large snaggletooth fang looking even more out of  
place now that his cheek was beginning to turn purple. "Why not see if she's willing to do it again?"   
The weasel pressed the sole button on the remote, and with a small explosion, a small black object  
launched itself out of the window, a smoke trail hanging behind it. A woman's angry shriek was close  
behind it. Nack replaced his remote and ducked into the alleyways of Cairo. He hid in the shadows  
until he saw Rouge fly overhead, her usually pure white fur sooty. Nack cackled.  
"I'm the only guy I know brilliant enough to fit micro jet booster onto a briefcase full of diamonds,"  
the weasel chuckled to himself. "Now then," he muttered, poking his head out to look at the smoke  
lingering in the window. "Say that window is so-and-so high, and the vector of flight was so-and-so  
degrees..." Nack rested his chin in one hand and that elbow in his other as he puzzled over the math.   
He frowned as he look eastward, the vapor trail hanging over his head. As best as he could figure, his  
briefcase would land somewhere among the pyramids. Only a few hundred miles into the Sahara, the  
most famous of Earth's deserts.  
"Sometimes I'm too smart for my own good," Nack muttered to himself. With a heavy sigh, Nack  
went to find his hover-bike, the Marvelous Queen, and to go for a bit of a drive.  
  
  
**Chapter Five**   
  
Tails sat back in his desk chair and rubbed his eyes with a tired sigh. The seventy-two inch  
computer screen glowed softly in the dark room of his workshop that doubled as his house. All around  
him laid the remains of his once magnificent room. Bookcases laid toppled atop piles of spilled books.   
Machines and other small mechanisms were vandalized, some disassembled to a degree that not even  
their inventory could recognize them. The overhead flourescent lights were all dead, either shot or  
smashed or stolen. Tails did not look at any of this, but rather kept his eyes fixated on the screen. With  
his attention divided between checking the ARK for weapons and the U.N. trial of G.U.N., he had  
never gotten around to straightening things up. He didn't like looking on the mess. It made him want to  
cry.  
"Cripes," a voice said behind the young fox, "What happened in here?"  
Tails yelped, jumping a little in his seat. He swivled to see Sonic standing where their plane, the  
Tornado, had once stood. The hedgehog looked rather concerned.  
"Sorry to scare you," Sonic said, a small smile creeping across his lips.  
"It's okay," Tails said, his heart finally calming.  
"So like I asked," Sonic said, looking around the room again, "What the heck happened here?"  
"G.U.N. did," Tails said sourly, his eyes unwillingly drawn to the chaos once more.  
"Vengeful bunch of jokers," Sonic muttered.  
"No," Tails corrected, "They did this after Amy and I broke you out of Prison Island. They were  
looking for clues to our whereabouts, where we might go, any important information."  
"Chalk up one more charge in the wrongful arrest suite," Sonic sneered.  
"No joke. They even cleaned out my hard drive. Thankfully, I had a copy hidden not too far from  
my workshop."  
"You keep hidden copies of your hard drive?" Sonic asked, a little amused.  
"Just in case Dr. Eggman raided my workshop," Tails explained.  
"Oh," the hedgehog replied. He walked over to one pile of books, picked one up, and rifled  
through the pages.   
"So how did your annual heart-to-heart with your brother go?" Tails asked, turning to the computer  
once more.  
"He sold me out to a couple of rogue G.U.N. troupes," Sonic replied nonchalantly.  
"What?" Tails exclaimed, spinning in his chair to face Sonic's back. "Ashura handed you over to  
rogue troupes?"  
"Yeah. You heard of them?"  
"Everyone has."  
Sonic blinked. "Come again?"  
"When was the last time you read a newspaper or watched the news?" Tails asked, crossing his  
arms in a patronizing manner.  
"I never have time for that," Sonic said, waving his hand dismissively.  
"Well, you need to make time," Tails said with a sigh. "There's an unknown number of troupes  
running amok, and the brass before the U.N. court isn't cooperating."  
Sonic grunted. "Why is the United Nations even involved in all this?"  
"Because G.U.N. existed in neutral waters, and no nation wants to claim them."  
Sonic gaze Tails a wary look. "Is this one of those political things again?"  
"I'm afraid so."  
"Then I'm not interested," Sonic said, rubbing his temples. "Politics give me a head-ache."  
Tails chuckled.  
"So," Sonic said, sauntering over to Tails and his computer, "Has G.U.N. given you any trouble  
yet?"  
"Nope," Tails replied, turning to the screen again. "I was just finishing the last of the code for a early  
warning system I set up in the bay around the Mystic Ruins jungle, as well as a few detectors along the  
cliffs."  
"Paranoid?" Sonic asked with a grin.  
"You get turned in by your own brother, and you're not?" Tails shot back with a grin.  
"Yeah, well, Ashura was never a prize-winner," Sonic replied, his grin dissolving.  
Tails tapped a few keys and the screen rebooted. "Now all we have to do is let the system reboot,  
and the early warning system will be operational."  
"How reliable is it?" Sonic asked.  
The screen bathed the room in its soft glow once more, and immediately alert windows began to  
swamp the seventy-two inch expanse.  
"Pretty reliable," Tails replied, moving the cursor to one of the warning windows. He clicked on it,  
bringing up a digital feed from one of the camera buoys out in the bay. What the duo saw was an  
invasion force. Three aircraft carriers were pulling into view, their decks loaded with fighter planes and  
helicopters. Overhead, just a little ahead, were cargo planes, undoubtably loaded with assault pods,  
bomb pods, armed pods, and every form of automated tank G.U.N. had to offer. In addition, pontoon  
bots filled with assault droids began to pull away from the aircraft carriers. Tails gulped audibly.  
"We've got trouble," he said quietly.  
"What?" Sonic scoffed. "They're a good quarter mile away from the looks of it. We'll be gone  
before their first pod drops."  
As Sonic finished his optimistic prediction, as series of laser bolts tore through the workshop. A  
series of loud crashes from the room above told them that Tails' room had just been destroyed.  
"We've got trouble," Tails repeated.  
"Yeah. Let's get out of here," Sonic said.  
"You go ahead," Tails said, switching off his computer and climbing under the console. "I need to  
grab my hard drive."  
"We're being shot at, remember?" Sonic called over the wail of another round of energy bolts, the  
last of which shattering the screen that had glowed so softly seconds before.  
"Hold them off for two minutes," Tails replied, his voice muffled from under the desk. Sonic rolled  
his eyes, then rushed out of the front door. He then skidded to a halt.  
"How...?" he began.  
"I may not be as fast as you, runt, but give me some credit," Ashura answered, his arms folded and  
his face twisted with a cruel grin. A trio of assault pods dropped and hovered at the green hedgehog's  
shoulders, their triple-fire canons turning to aim at Sonic.  
The Blue Blur crossed his arms and rocked back on his heels. "G.U.N. thinks you can take me with  
that?" he asked, nodding to Ashura's robotic company.  
"No," Ashura said, "But they think that it can delay you long enough for their small invasion force to  
arrive."  
Sonic's ear twitched as he heard a familiar mechanical groan from within the workshop. He smiled  
at Ashura. "Sorry bro, but your help isn't going to last long."  
"Oh no?" Ashura challenged with a haughty chuckle. There was a sudden grinding noise as the  
hanger doors to Tails' workshop folded open. A moment later, Tails drove out in the two-legged  
Cyclone, swept its targeting laser across Ashura's support, and vaporized them with three laser bolts.  
"Nice," Sonic complimented.  
"Two hundred points!" Tails laughed.  
"Not too shabby," Ashura admitted, never losing his cruel, calm demeanor. "But how are you going  
to handle that?" he asked, gesturing to the sky above the ruined workshop. Sonic turned quickly, his  
fists clenching. The sky was clear. Ashura surged forward, throwing one green-black knee into  
Sonic's diaphragm, winding the blue hedgehog.  
"You fell for the oldest trick in the book!" Ashura snarled in disgust as Sonic dropped to his knees.  
"You're gonna pay for that!" Tails yelled as he urged the Cyclone into a charge.  
"I doubt it, Miles," Ashura replied. Just then, a trio of G.U.N.'s jets roared overhead, their engines  
nearly deafening the mobians below. From above, a cloud of various types of G.U.N. pods began to  
pour from the cargo planes.  
"Looks like the calvary has arrived," Ashura announced.  
"So what?" Tails challenged, turning the Cyclone's cockpit to point skyward so he could pick off  
some of the first pods to reach his range.  
"Get out of here, Tails," Sonic wheezed as he struggled to his feet.  
"No way!" Tails objected.  
"Go!" Sonic demanded, diving at Ashura. His evil brother reacted in suit and began to grapple with  
the hero. "You can get through G.U.N. now, but there'll be too many in a minute! I'll hold off the only  
real threat!"  
"I'm touched," Ashura said flatly, attempting to throw a knee between Sonic's legs.  
"Just let me shoot him," Tails cried, turning the Cyclone towards the hedgehogs.  
"No time!" Sonic called, hopping back to avoid Ashura's low-blow. "Just go!"  
Tails felt like objecting further, but the sound of rotor blades and laser fire from above were  
becoming hard to ignore. With his eyes glistening, Tails turned the Cyclone to the cliffs and leapt into  
the air above the waves. With a series of whirrs and clanks, the Cyclone transformed into a modified  
Tornado, and flew for the far side of the bay, away from G.U.N.'s advancing forces.  
"I'll be back for you!" Tails called as he vanished around the cliffs, a number of jets in hot pursuit.  
"I'll be fine," Sonic replied quietly.  
"Wrong again," Ashura sneered, curling into a ball of spines and launching himself at Sonic. Sonic  
spun underneath the attack, uncurling and turning to face Ashura's next attack. From above, the bomb  
pods began dropping their spherical explosives. The tiny black balls bounced once, then exploded into  
a bubble of fire. Sonic held one arm up to shield himself from the heat and debris. Ashura took  
advantage of the distraction and delivered a hard spin-attack to Sonic's torso.   
Sonic staggered to his feet and moved to counter-attack, but a trio of assault pods flew overhead,  
cutting off his path with a spray of laser bolts. On the cliff-side, Sonic saw the edges of the pontoon lifts  
secure themselves. Far below, the assault droids were walking onto the steep incline, magnetically  
attaching themselves to the surface, and then riding to the open field under the one where Sonic was  
being pummeled. The blue and green hedgehogs leapt at each other, their after-images mingling as they  
circled each other in midair at a furious pace.   
They landed in unison. They would have continued to meet each other blow-for-blow if one of the  
armed pods hadn't grazed Sonic's shoulder with a laser bolt. Sonic winced and gripped his shoulder,  
leaving himself prone again. Ashura, with a great deal of relish, spin-dashed into Sonic again, sending  
the good brother flying across the open plain and slamming into the exterior wall of the workshop. The  
pods went on stand-by, and the assault droids that reached the surface began marching up the stairs  
that lead to Tails' former home.   
Ashura advanced on his brother, cracking his knuckles in anticipation. He was just about to  
pulverize Sonic with a relentless series of spin-dashes when the din of rotor noise and a megaphone  
interrupted his fun.  
"That's enough, Agent Daemon," the voice from the helicopter-borne megaphone called.  
Ashura looked up at the speaker and sneered. He turned and took a few more steps towards Sonic  
before a gunshot rang out over the din and a bullet dug its way into the ground just before Ashura. The  
green hedgehog spun around, furious, as he watched the helicopter land. A number of armed soldiers  
poured from the craft, their shoulders proudly displaying the symbol of G.U.N. A relatively young man  
wearing a similar uniform, black beret, and holding a lightly smoking handgun lead them.  
"What the hell do you think you're doing, Creed?" Ashura barked, taking a menacing step towards  
the lead human. The human, in turn, leveled the handgun at Ahsura's eyes.  
"Reminding you of just who's in charge of this operation, Agent Daemon," the human replied. He  
smiled pleasantly as he watched the fight drain out of Ashura. "And you will refer to me as Commander  
Creed. I trust I won't have to remind you of that again."  
"Yes sir, Commander," Ashura said quietly after a moment, his eyes smouldering.  
"Excellent," Creed said, lowering the gun, but still keeping it in the general direction of Ashura. He  
cocked his head over his shoulder to the men standing behind him. "Take the prisoner," he  
commanded. The G.U.N. soldiers swarmed past their commander, around Ashura, and around Sonic.   
The hedgehog was roughly hauled to his feet, hand-cuffed, then cuffed around his ankles twice. Still  
groggy, Sonic put up no fight. He would save his strength for healing and for escaping. The soldiers  
hefted Sonic up and carried him to the helicopter, where he was promptly caged like any other animal.  
"I take it I don't get to kill him now?" Ashura asked, disappointed.  
"No," Creed replied, returning the gun to its holster. Ashura's impetus for insubordination was gone,  
so Creed believed it safe to put his gun away. If he was mistaken, there were seven other guns held by  
either a man or a machine that would take Ashura down before he had a chance to do anything.  
"Then what are you waiting for, Commander?" Ashura pressed, making the title as much of a slur as  
he could get away with.  
"I want his ward and love interest captured first," Creed explained. "They'll be executed first, and  
then I'll let Sonic stew over it for a while. Then, when he has no will left to live, I'll have him executed."  
"You're tame, Commander," Ashura said with a dark smile.  
"Oh?" Creed replied.  
"I'd make him watch the executions. I'd have them taped too, so you can show them in his cell  
again and again. Then I'd shoot him, once you've had your fun."  
"You're a very disturbed person," Creed replied. He smiled none-the-less, for the ideas appealed  
to him.  
"I don't do well at family reunions," Ashura replied quietly.  
"Sir," a solider announced, saluting.  
"What is it?" Creed asked.  
"Report from Mantis Troupe. Prower has escaped," the soldier reported.  
"I should have known better to leave his capture to Mantis pilots," Creed hissed. "Very well.   
Contact all forces. We're pulling out."  
"Yes sir," the soldier replied, then departed.  
"So what's next?" Ashura asked.  
"You'll be put on stand-by," Creed instructed. "Sonic has a nasty habit of escaping our facilities.   
You'll be on call to stop any attempts by Ms. Rose or Mr. Prower."  
"Works for me," Ashura replied.  
"I thought it would," Creed replied with a smirk. "Now come along," he ordered. The two boarded  
the helicopter together. With a roar it took to the air and flew back to its aircraft carrier.  
  
  
**Chapter Six**  
  
Two hours of driving across the sands of the Sahara, and Nack was thoroughly board. Nothing had  
happened since he began to track down the diamonds he had liberated from Rouge a second time. As  
for the bat, there had been no sign of her.  
"Not even a jiggle," Nack snickered to himself. He looked to the sky, frowned, and began to reach  
for the brim of his hat when something landed heavily on the back of the Marvelous Queen. A pair of  
hands delicately wrapped around the weasel's waist, the thumbs and their claws digging a little into his  
back.  
"Hello there, Rouge," Nack said cheerily, but with his heart in his throat.  
"Hello, dear," the bat replied, putting a little more pressure into her thumb-claws.  
"Mind if I ask how you followed me this far?" Nack inquired.  
"I was gliding and following the vapor trail of my briefcase," Rouge answered.  
"Ah. How'd you maintain the altitude?"  
"Desert-hot updrafts and the engines of your bike went a long way," Rouge replied sweetly.  
Nack nodded approvingly. "Not bad, not bad. So why grace me with your presence now?"  
"The vapor trail finally went dry," Rouge admitted. "That, and I felt like holding your kidneys for  
ransom," she added, flexing her thumbs.  
"How kind of you," Nack replied cheerily. "Well, if you'll permit me, I was going to bring down my  
tracking visor."  
"Why?" Rouge asked, flexing her thumbs again.  
"I've used those mini-booster a bit in the past, and it's my experience the vapor trail disappears a  
little too soon. So I mixed the propellent fuel with a special little particle that's invisible unless seen  
through my tracker."  
"Impressive," Rouge commended.  
"I thought so."  
"Alright, you get your tracker," Rouge said. As Nack lifted a hand to flip them down from the brim  
of his hat, he felt one of Rouge's hands leave his side. He sensed her retrieve an item from her person,  
place it somewhere, and then felt the thumb claw return to its annoying and unnerving place.  
"Are you alright back there?" he asked.  
"Perfectly fine," Rouge replied, "I was just putting one my treasure scope. It turns out it picks up  
your special particles as well as your tracking visor should."  
"Oh good," Nack said with false glee. "Now you can be sure we're on the right path and that I'm  
not just driving you into a trap or something."  
"Exactly," Rouge replied with a smirk. "Isn't it grand?"  
"Just super," Nack muttered.  
To Nack's dismay, they traveled in this fashion for another hour. What came next was not any  
better. Nack brought the Marvelous Queen to a slow halt as he and his passenger crested one of the  
sand dunes. Below them lay Dr. Eggman's pyramid base, its pointed crown still split from where  
Knuckles flew the shuttle that bore him and his allies to the ARK. Around the perimeter, in black tape  
marked with their insignia in white, was G.U.N.'s warning for people to stay out. The particle trail lead  
right into the base.  
"Perfect," Nack hissed.  
"Relax," Rouge crooned. "Any chance those boosters of yours would have carried my diamonds  
past the base?"  
"No chance," Nack sighed.  
"Alright then," Rouge said, leaving the hover-bike, and Nack's back. The weasel switched off the  
main drive, letting the Marvelous Queen sink a little in the air. Rouge turned and gave him an odd look  
at the weasel checked the energy cell on his laser pistol.  
"What do you think you're doing?" she asked.  
"Coming with you," Nack replied distractedly, snapping the energy cell back into the grip of his  
pistol.  
"I don't think so," Rouge scoffed.  
"I need to get those mini-boosters back," Nack explained irritably. "Sheesh, at least let me get back  
what's mine."  
"If you're even thinking of shooting me in the back..."  
"Relax," Nack said with a smirk, "I value my kidneys. Now let's go."  
The two treasure hunters ducked under the warning tape and ventured into the pyramid base  
unfettered. None of G.U.N.'s robots remained. They had all been ordered out by the United Nations  
when the trial first began. It was the world's opinion that if Dr. Eggman couldn't have his own base,  
then neither should anyone with G.U.N.'s now questionable motives. All of the doctor's badniks had  
also been obliterated by Sonic, Tails and Knuckles as they made their way to the shuttle bay. The only  
thing left was a giant metal scarab, which Nack promptly shot in the head once he and Rouge ran  
across it in the base.  
As they followed the particle trail, Rouge asked, "Did you program those boosters of yours to fly so  
expertly?"  
"No," Nack replied thoughtfully. "It shouldn't have gotten in the base. Not this way."  
Rouge nodded, checking the doorway as she and Nack entered a large room filled with pillars. "It's  
almost as if somebody...."  
"Carried it here?" a voice offered, interrupting Rouge's spoken thought. The treasure hunters  
stopped and looked up one of the mighty red pillars. A white gloved hand was swinging the briefcase  
back and forth on one finger.  
"Why don't you show us your pretty face, Mr. I'm-so-smart," Nack asked, leveling his pistol at the  
top of the pillar. Rouge, however, was not intimidated. Rather, she ran up to the base of the pillar,  
eyes wide and expectant.  
"Shadow?" she called, hopeful.  
"So you remember me," the voice replied. The briefcase was pulled out of view. Nack slowly  
began to walk around the base of the pillar, his gun still aimed, waiting for an open shot at the owner of  
the voice. His ears perked as he heard the air rush around a falling body. Then, his pistol was plucked  
from his hands. The weasel turned quickly, snarling. Upon seeing the cold glare of Shadow the  
Hedgehog, however, he quickly wilted away.  
"I'll take this if you don't mind," Shadow stated, taking a more proper hold of the gun.  
"Shadow!" Rouge exclaimed happily, running to meet him. "We thought you were dead!"  
Shadow barely moved, but pointed the pistol at Rouge, who quickly stopped her advance. "Now  
then," Shadow said quietly, "How did you know I was here?"  
"We followed the trail of particles," Rouge answered, visibly hurt by Shadow's lack of trust.  
"I see no particles," Shadow replied.  
Nack tapped his hat around his tracking visor. "You can only see them with these," he informed the  
dark hedgehog meekly.  
"I'm sure," Shadow replied with a slight sneer.  
"Why would we lie?" Rouge challenged.  
"An interesting question coming from the government spy," Shadow replied calmly.  
"You're a spy on the side?" Nack asked, surprised.  
"It's a hobby," Rouge answered smartly.   
"Whether the government sent you two or not," Shadow said, raising his voice slightly, "I'll need you  
to repair the teleporter in the main control room."  
"What teleporter?" Nack asked.  
"Why?" Rouge asked at the same time.  
Shadow raised the pistol and shot the ceiling once, letting the screech of the shot echo in the  
chamber for a minute. "I hate to repeat myself. Now if you'll just step through the doorway on the  
other side of the room, I'll begin to direct you which way to go from behind."  
Nack and Rouge nodded in compliance and walked stiffly through the doorway and through the  
stuffy corridors of the base. Shadow was not far behind. As they walked, Nack fell in step with  
Rouge.  
"Any chance we can make a run for it?" he whispered to her.  
"No chance," Rouge replied morbidly.  
  
  
**Chapter Seven**  
  
Amy Rose smiled as she rolled over in bed. She had just looked at the clock. It read 11:55 AM.   
She had slept in, and didn't feel guilty. This was the first sign of a lazy day, and she felt like she needed  
it. Action seemed to come to her in waves. First, she lived alone on Little Planet, getting by on meals  
prepared by unseen hands and cared for in illness by phantoms. Then Dr. Eggman attacked, practically  
destroying her home world in the process. Sonic had rescued her, and she had fallen in love.  
Then nothing happened. She adjusted to life on Earth, and found a bank account had been made in  
her name. She had asked Sonic and Tails, the only people she knew in the world, but they were as  
surprised by it as she was. Amy lived off of the mysterious money, putting a little of her paycheck into  
it each month, and trying for the most part to forget the unexplained nature of her life. It gave her the  
creeps. A few years passed, and Amy suddenly found herself entangled in Dr. Eggman's latest  
campaign of terror, this time employing the incredible power of Chaos. After Perfect Chaos was  
defeated and the handful of survivors were recovered from the rubble of Station Square, Amy found  
herself the object of attention by the media. Rumors of her relationship with Sonic spread world-wide,  
but since the hedgehog never stayed in one place too long, the stories died.  
And then Dr. Eggman struck again, this time sending G.U.N. on a wild goose chase after Sonic.   
Amy had finally taught herself some self-dependance and went to save her hero. In the end, it wasn't  
her mallet that saved the day, but her heart-felt words with Shadow. Having helped save the world  
from the ARK, Amy was now more than just "that girl with Sonic." Between global preservation and  
media spotlight, her life had become very hectic for that homecoming week. Then the U.N. trial of  
G.U.N. began, and the media was drawn away, leaving Amy in peace.  
Yes, after all that, Amy deserved a little laziness. Dressing herself in a soft white robe, Amy went to  
the kitchen of her small apartment to fix herself breakfast. No, lunch, she corrected herself with a  
giggle. As she rummaged through her cupboards, she glanced out to the sliding glass doors that led to  
her meager patio. A large bird house hung in the eaves, empty. Laziness and relaxation were one  
thing, but loneliness was quite another. Birdie and his family lived there during the spring, but with  
winter coming now, they had migrated. That, and Birdie would soon be looking for a mate and a  
nesting site himself.   
Amy let out a soft sigh and shut the cupboard doors. She had suddenly lost her appetite. She  
opened the door of her apartment, planning to check her mail. Instead, she ran into Tails, who was just  
about to knock on her door.  
"Ow! Hey...Tails?" Amy asked, staggering.  
"Sorry," Tails grunted, rubbing his chin tenderly.  
"What's up?" Amy asked cheerfully. She suddenly realized she was clad only in her robe. Blushing  
madly, she said, "Excuse me for a moment!" and slammed the door in Tails' face before he could  
answer her question. A moment later, and Amy (clad in her favorite dress) opened the door on a  
slightly annoyed Tails.  
"Sorry about that Tails," Amy apologized with a giggle.  
"Amy, Sonic's in trouble," Tails said, cutting directly to the point.  
"Oh no," she gasped, taking a step back. "You mean those rogue troupes they were talking about  
on the news....?"  
"Yup," Tails confirmed, nodding gravely. "An entire invasion force."  
"Wait," Amy said, "How did you escape?"  
"I flew away in the Tornado."  
"And you left Sonic behind?!" Amy roared. She grabbed the young fox by the shoulders and shook  
him hard. "How could you leave your best friend behind like that?!"  
"Sonic told me to!" Tails exclaimed, trying to pull Amy's hands away. "I didn't want to, but Ashura  
was there, and..."  
Amy released the fox suddenly, spilling him out into the hall. Her face had gone pale. "Ashura?" she  
asked, her voice suddenly very small.  
"Yeah," Tails grunted, as he got to his feet. "Why?"  
Amy shrunk away into her apartment. Tails followed growing concerned.   
"I begged Sonic to take me with him to meet his brother, once," Amy explained, sitting down. "He  
tried to talk me out of it, but I just wouldn't listen to him. I thought that if I couldn't have Sonic, his twin  
brother would do. But then I met him. He's the most horrible person in the world. Worse than even  
Dr. Eggman."  
"I know," Tails said quietly, laying a supportive hand on Amy's shoulder. "He's working with  
G.U.N. for some reason, and as far as I could tell, he's as skilled as Sonic."  
"Then what are we going to do?" Amy asked.   
"First, I need to use your computer," Tails answered. "I have the programs and web sites I need on  
my hard drive. I'll probably need to upgrade your computer some, but once I'm online, I can being  
looking for Sonic."  
"But how can you find the rouge troupes when nobody else can?" Amy asked.  
"Simple," Tails replied. "I'll just see where it's confirmed they aren't, and that will narrow down my  
search."  
"I think the U.N. and other world governments have thought of that, Tails," Amy scolded.  
"I'm sure they have," Tails replied, "But I'm willing to look in the places where most people would  
overlook or dismiss. Are you?"  
"For Sonic," Amy said, "I'm willing to do anything."  
  
  
**Chapter Eight**  
  
Shadow had seated himself upon the base of one of the pillars around the control room's entrance.   
The diamond-filled briefcase sat beneath his feet, and he held the pistol loosely in the general direction  
of Rouge and Nack.  
"How are you progressing?" he asked quietly.  
"About the same as we were five minutes ago," Nack muttered darkly. Rouge scowled a warning  
to Nack, then looked to see how angry Shadow was over the comment. Instead of anger, she saw he  
was smirking. He was just annoying Nack. Rouge breathed a silent sigh of relief. While Shadow had  
seemed suddenly colder than when they had parted ways, Rouge was relieved to know he was still  
alive enough at heart to pester the weasel.  
"I've got the communications link with the ARK back up," Rouge announced, standing up from the  
bottom of the control panels.   
"Excellent," Shadow commended. "Hail the doctor."  
Rouge turned to the keyboard and began striking keys. After a few key-strokes, the image of Dr.  
Eggman's face appeared. He was obviously curious over who was, or rather could, come in contact  
with him. Rouge stepped aside.  
"Hello?" Dr. Eggman called.   
"Hello doctor," Shadow greeted. "It's been a while."  
"Shadow?" Dr. Eggman marveled. "And here we thought you had died."  
"The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated," Shadow replied with a smirk.  
"I see my grandfather's love for Mark Twain lives within you, Shadow," the doctor said with a  
chuckle.  
"The guy was a hack," Nack muttered as he played with wires.  
"To what do I owe this visit, Shadow?" the doctor enquired.  
"I'm still interested in conquering the world," Shadow announced, "But I have to admit I'm poorly  
trained in such matters. I thought you could give me a few pointers."  
"Why not become my apprentice and watch me as I work?" Dr. Eggman offered.  
Shadow chuckled wryly. "Very good, doctor. Very tricky. Yes, I will aid you, provided that we  
maintain equality in the venture."  
"If you can get me off this infernal colony," Dr. Eggman replied, "I will gladly become your partner."  
"I have some friends working on the teleporter in your Egyptian base," Shadow announced. "You  
can come home in a few minutes."  
"As long as we're bearing gifts," Dr. Eggman replied with a dark chuckle, "I might as well offer you  
this." A shimmering yellow gem sudden rose within view. "Behold! Miles "Tails" Prower's fake Chaos  
Emerald. I trust you could put it to good use?"  
"Chaos Control," Shadow replied, as if to answer.   
"Once I'm back on Earth," Dr. Eggman said with a sniff, "I'll have to build a new badnik army. I  
have a few G.U.N. robots to start off with, but nothing of the likes I'm used to working with."  
"Actually, doctor," Shadow replied, "I have a far faster plan."  
"Oh?" the doctor replied.  
"Once you're home, we'll discuss things. Nack?"  
"Got it," the weasel replied, slapping the access panel closed. Minutes later, a beam of spiraling  
purple energy appeared in a column above the pad Nack had repaired. When the light faded, Dr.  
Eggman stood before the mobians, the fake yellow Chaos Emerald in his hand. He looked about their  
faces, then to the base around him. He threw his head back and laughed maniacally, throwing his arms  
out.  
"The Eggman is back!"  
  
**Epilogue**  
  
In two weeks, the stage was set. Dr. Eggman and Shadow the Hedgehog held their council,  
bringing together a plan to conquer the world. Rouge and Nack were put under heavy guard by the  
robots constructed by G.U.N. and left upon the ARK. Tails and Amy went about preparing her  
computer. Together, they scanned the news of G.U.N.'s activities, hoping for a break. Meanwhile,  
Sonic was still in the hands of the rouge troupes, and was soon to meet a fellow mobian in trouble.  
  
END OF ACT ONE  
  
To Be Continued in:  
"Metal Sea" part two of "Metal - The Last Chapter" 


	3. "Metal Sea" - Part II

"Metal Sea" part two of the "Metal - The Last Chapter" series  
Story (c) Ian Flynn  
Sonic the Hedgehog and all related material (c) Sega  
Ashura (c) Kiken, with the character written by the author's interpretation.  
  
  
**Chapter One**  
  
Sonic let most things in life slide. If it was cold, he'd run to warm up. If it was raining, it made  
running all the more exciting. But this time, the fact that he didn't know where he was or where he had  
been in the past two weeks, really got on his nerves. He always woke up in dark cells or in cramped  
cages. In the latter case, he was always bound, gaged, and being moved. When it came time for him  
to leave his cell so he could be moved to the next location, they would put a sedative into his food.   
Sonic had tasted it the first time they tried it, and had started refusing meals when the first spoonful  
tasted off. In those cases, Commander Frederick Creed would walk to the cell door and shoot Sonic  
with a tranquilizer. Either the tranquilizer had a large needle, or Creed knew just where to fire it so it  
would hurt the most. Never the less, Sonic decided he'd go the less painful route and started eating the  
sedatives again. But he never gave up.  
This time, he awoke in a cramped cage. Judging from the lack of jostling, Sonic decided he was  
being airlifted to his next cell. Another thing Sonic had learned to comply with was keeping quiet when  
he awoke in the cages. The one time he tried to escape, the butt of a rifle came through the bars and  
did the same work as the sedatives, only leaving a large bruise on Sonic's head for a few days. It still  
wasn't totally gone. So Sonic lay quietly and listened to the chatter of the G.U.N. soldiers and waited  
to be delivered to his next 'delightful getaway.' This time turned out to be a little different, however.  
The helicopter set down on a desolate island. As the soldiers left their ride, Sonic looked out  
through the bars of his cage at the blasted land. As close as he could figure, the island had been  
ravaged by a volcano, or was used for testing explosives. Either way, the ground was scorched and  
only one black, crooked form stood as testimony that there had once been trees there. Sonic relaxed  
his body and closed his eyes as the soldiers dragged his cage roughly from the helicopter. But once on  
the ground, Sonic heard the top unlock, and then silence. Confused, Sonic kept playing possum, seeing  
as it was the only safe option he had.  
"You're not fooling anyone, rodent," Creed chuckled darkly. "You can get up now."  
Sonic still didn't move. If Creed was looking for an excuse to beat him up, Sonic wasn't going to  
give it to him.  
"Look, you can either walk to your cell, or we can drag your bleeding, unconscious carcass there.   
Your choice," Creed offered impatiently.  
'I'm beat either way,' Sonic thought to himself angrily. For the first time, he didn't have any options,  
not even to fly blind. He had no control of the situation, and it drove him crazy. Slowly, trying to act as  
if he was groggy from the sedatives, Sonic stood from his cage and looked at the handful of soldiers  
with the commander.  
"Very good," Creed crooned. "Now walk."  
Sonic hopped out of the cage. Simply stepping out was out of the question, for his ankles were  
double-handcuffed. Sonic looked at Creed, expecting more directions. When he received none, he  
began to shuffle forward. A gunshot rang out across the island, and a bullet bounced noisily off the  
ground just in front of Sonic. The hedgehog froze.  
"Not that way, stupid," Creed barked.  
Sonic mentally counted to ten. Losing his temper now would only get him killed, even if that seemed  
like a fashionable option right now. He turned around and glared at Creed with his brilliant green eyes.   
Slowly, he shuffled up to the commander, having to tilt his head back to maintain eye-contact.  
"Alright commander," he said evenly, "Which way should I go?"  
Creed smirked darkly. "This way, hedgehog," he replied, and began to walk towards the coastline  
of the island. Sonic let out a sigh, hopped around so he was pointed in the right direction, and shuffled  
along. After what seemed like an eternity to the hedgehog, Sonic and the G.U.N. forces stopped just a  
few meters from where the high-tide surf met the sand. Creed pulled a walkie-talkie from one of the  
multiple pockets on his uniform.  
"We're in position. Open the gates of Hell," he said in the no-nonsense voice of a military man.   
Before he had put the walkie-talkie away, the ground beneath the group made a grinding sound and  
began to sink into the ground. Sonic watched as they all sunk below the surface, a camouflaged door  
immediately closing behind them. A minute's ride down, and the group was in a steel hallway. Sonic let  
out a low whistle.  
"Now that was impressive," he said earnestly.  
"Glad you approve," Creed said before slapping Sonic hard in the ear. "Now get moving."  
"Forward, I assume," Sonic asked.  
"Watch that smart mouth of yours, hedgehog," Creed warned.  
Sonic suppressed another quip and began to shuffle down the flourescent-lit corridor. The group  
took many twists and turns with the occasional elevator ride. Finally, they stopped in front of a cell of a  
design that looked incredibly familiar to Sonic. One of the G.U.N. soldiers ran a card through the lock,  
then typed in a clearance code. With a buzz and a jangling grind, the door pulled itself into the ceiling.   
One of the soldiers followed Sonic inside while the others held their guns at ready. The one soldier  
removed the handcuffs, then exits the cell. With another buzz and a jangling grind, the door dropped  
shut.  
"You're dismissed, gentlemen," Creed announced. The soldiers saluted and marched away. Creed  
gave Sonic an unfriendly smile. "Sorry for all the movement the past few days, Sonic, but we had to  
make sure no one was following us."  
"Right," Sonic grunted, rubbing his ankles and wrists.  
"You'll be happy to know you won't be moved again," Creed continued. "No one's going to look  
for you here."  
"Maybe," Sonic replied, smirking at the commander.  
Creed let out an amused snort and shook his head. "Whatever you want to think, hedgehog," he  
said. He walked over to the dark cell across the hall from Sonic and banged on the bars noisily with  
the butt of his gun. "Hey, King Kong! You've got company, freak," he said, then exited the corridor.   
Puzzled, Sonic went to his cell door and looked across the hallway. A pair of tiny, yellow eyes  
appeared, staring blankly at Sonic. The hedgehog took a wary step back. The eyes rose nearly to the  
ceiling of the cell as the occupant stood, then rocked slightly as their owner approached the cell door.   
The occupant's large, gloved hands gripped the bars as the giant figure peered at the hedgehog.  
"Sonic?" he asked in a deep, yet nasal voice.  
"Big?" Sonic asked, approaching his cell door again.  
"Sonic!" the giant cat exclaimed happily, his normally vacant look warming into a dopey smile.   
"Hello Sonic!"  
"Hey big guy," Sonic greeted, smirking a little. "What are you doing in this joint?"  
Big's smile dropped into an exaggerated frown. "G.U.N. caught me."  
"I gathered that much, buddy," Sonic said, "But why did they catch you?"  
"I think," Big answer, thinking, "Because I made the commander mad. Me and Ashura and Nack  
made a mess."  
Sonic was taken aback. "You were working with Ashura and Nack?"  
"I'm sorry," Big said, looking away. "I know they are bad. But Ashura said he was your brother,  
and he said you were in trouble. I wanted to help."  
"Hey, take it easy big guy," Sonic said gently. "This isn't your fault."  
"It isn't?"  
"Nope."  
"Oh...okay," Big said, smiling a little again.  
"How long have you been in here?" Sonic asked.  
"A long time," Big replied. "I don't know how long. I can't see the sun, so I don't know. But it's  
been a long time. I hope Froggy's okay."  
"Who?" Sonic asked.  
"Froggy. My best friend."  
Sonic frowned. He didn't remember anyone named Froggy at the small gathering they had just  
before he went into battle against Perfect Chaos. But that didn't matter, as long as there would be  
someone looking for them.  
"Hey Sonic?" Big called.  
"Yeah?" Sonic answered, shaking his head as he came out of his thoughts.  
"When we get out of here, do you want to go fishing?" the giant feline asked.  
Sonic smirked. "Sure, Big."  
  
  
**Chapter Two**  
  
Amy looked at what used to be her computer. It once was a small monitor and tower that held a  
word processor, a few small art programs, and internet access. Otherwise, she didn't use it much.   
After Tails went shopping, however, it wasn't quiet the same. While it looked similar, the heavy hum  
from the machine as it worked implied that there was a great deal more going on in there than two  
weeks ago. Amy shook her head with a sigh. It was true what they said about boys and their toys, she  
guessed.  
The other new feature to her apartment that seemed far more practical was a world map that hung  
on one of the walls in her living room. Various areas were marked with different colored push-pins.   
One color meant it was a known G.U.N. base of the past, while another would mean a recent G.U.N.  
sighting, while yet another would mean a former base that had been inspected by the U.N. or some  
other government agency. In total, there were nearly a sixteen different colors for different occasions,  
and they covered the world. Amy shivered at the thought of G.U.N. being so wide-spread.  
"How's the search going?" Amy asked, turning to Tails, who was busy at the computer.  
"So far, so good," he answered, "I guess. Put a red pin on Station Square, would you?"  
Amy fetched a red colored push-pin and stuck it into its appropriate place on South Island's portion  
of the map. "They looked in Station Square?"  
"Nobody lives there any more," Tails answered, "It'd be a good place to hide."  
"But most of it is still under water," Amy replied.  
Tails shrugged and went to another online news site. He and Amy had started taking shifts, each  
looking at news forums or web sites, trying to find any clues as to where G.U.N. might be moving, or  
even better, where Sonic might be. The headline link that caught Tails' eye, however, was about  
neither. He clicked, read, then gasped.  
"Holy cow," he breathed.  
"What is it?" Amy asked, hurrying to his shoulder. The headline of the article read "Eggman Empire  
- A Tactic That Will Work?" Amy blinked and began to read over Tails' shoulder:  
  
EGGMAN EMPIRE - A TACTIC THAT WILL WORK?  
  
REUTERS - The world was stunned today when, at exactly twelve noon by  
Greenwich Mean Time, Dr. Ivo 'Eggman' Robotnik announced his latest   
tactic in his bid for world domination. Instead of besieging Earth's inhabitants  
with an army of robots, Dr. Eggman said today, via satellite, that he was going  
to run for every political office in the world.   
  
This announcement has caused more of a stir among world leaders and citizens  
than the threat of the Eclipse Cannon over a month ago. Politicians world-wide  
have already begun a mud-slinging campaign against the doctor, all citing his  
past attempts and the damage caused by them. The doctor, however, was not  
without a rebuttal for these charges.  
  
"It's very hard to be heard on a global scale," the doctor said during his annou-  
ncment this afternoon. "All the violence was meant to do was scare humanity  
into complying with my wishes. It's when the nations and people of the world  
resisted that I had to regretfully fulfill my threats. I went down this road because  
the saying goes "Nice guys finish last." I've decided to rethink that philosophy."  
  
Dr. Eggman's announcement was ill-timed, however. Most democratic count-  
ries have already held their elections. Political analysts are speculating if this  
missed opportunity was really the beginning of a very long campaign to be a   
legal world ruler. Others question Dr. Eggman's legitimacy. For now, all Earth   
can do is watch and wait.  
  
"I knew he was crazy," Amy said when she finished, "But I didn't think he was nuts."  
"He's up to something," Tails mused, "Because he'd never win."  
"Duh," Amy snickered.  
"No, I'm serious," Tails replied. "Most of the elected offices on the various islands allow the leading  
party to choose the executive position. And he has no chance at all in the monarchies and totalitarian  
states."  
"So why is he even trying?" Amy asked.  
"I don't know," Tails replied, his eyes grazing over the words again. "It may be he's just blowing  
smoke."  
"Or maybe he got bored up on the ARK," Amy offered with a laugh.  
"That too," Tails agreed with a grin. "Now that I think about it, this might work to our favor."  
"What do you mean?" Amy asked.  
"Dr. Eggman did as much damage to G.U.N. as Sonic did, if not more. After all, he did blow up  
one of their island bases."  
"So now that he's grabbed the public's attention again, G.U.N. might try to attack him, right?"   
"Maybe...but then again, with Dr. Eggman so important now, anything G.U.N. does to get to him  
will be noticed, so they may leave him alone."  
Amy sighed a pulled up a chair beside young fox. "This is so complicated," she whined. "I liked it  
better when we just got to the island and grabbed Sonic."  
"Ditto," Tails sighed. They looked at the news post again for a minute, then resumed their search for  
news on G.U.N.  
  
  
**Chapter Three**  
  
Rouge the Bat paced within her room. Once Dr. Eggman had been returned to Earth, the question  
had been what he and Shadow were going to do with the pair of treasure hunters. The solution was to  
lock them in the living quarters of the ARK. So Rouge continued to pace in the modest room, furnished  
with a small table, a couch, and a few chairs to host a small number of guests. Through a doorway, one  
could reach a room of equal proportions. This was the bedroom, furnished with a bed, and the  
bathroom, which was little more than a very large closet filled with the essentials of a private bath.  
When she and Nack had been escorted to their rooms, Dr. Eggman had made a point of showing  
them their guards. Two dozen G.U.N. assault droids lined the walls, another six escorting the prisoners  
and their jail keeper. Rouge was fairly confident that, given the time, she could break down the door of  
her room and make a break for it. But the numbers she would face the first thirty seconds out of the  
room would be too much for her. The only other alternative would be to break into Nack's room and  
try to break out with their combined skills. This wouldn't do either, since Rouge preferred solitary  
confinement to Nack's company any day.  
With a frustrated growl, Rouge sat on the couch and rested her chin in one hand. Once again, she  
had failed to come up with any new plan. Without any change of scenery or interaction with another  
living being, the days of endless tedium were beginning to wear on her. She started when the sounds of  
her door unlocking and opening suddenly announced the arrival of some guest. Her new company  
stood in the doorway, the lights of hall outside darkening his features to the dim room.  
"Hello, Miss Rouge," he said. "May I come in?"  
"Make yourself at home, Shadow," Rouge offered, a touch of cynicism in her voice.  
The hedgehog strode in, his hands clasped behind his back. Once he was in the room, the door  
hissed shut and audibly locked once more. "How are you?"  
"Alright, I suppose," Rouge said with a sigh. "You know, Shadow, I think we got off on the wrong  
foot."  
"Oh?" Shadow replied, a small smile making its way onto his face.  
"Yes," Rouge assured him, matching his smile. "After all, I was ready to greet someone back from  
the dead, and you held me at gun-point, made me do manual labor, and then locked me away with the  
only possible company being that weasel. Honestly, Shadow, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you  
didn't like me any more."  
Shadow chuckled lightly. "I didn't mean to be so cruel as to leave you with Nack, but I couldn't  
take any chances with you."  
"Shadow, I give you my word: No one knows you're alive."  
"Outside of the doctor, Nack and yourself?"  
"Of course."  
Shadow mused over Rouge's promise for a moment. "Never the less, you'll have brought suspicion  
where it doesn't belong."  
"What do you mean?"  
"Everyone who saw your scuffle with Nack, or who may have seen you go with him into the desert,  
will begin to wonder. Especially now that the doctor has made his bid for global domination once  
more."  
Rouge sighed in disgust. "What super weapon or ancient monster has he come up with this time?"  
she asked.  
"He's doing it legally this time," Shadow replied with a smirk as he approached one of the windows  
that looked out into the darkness of space.  
"Legally?"  
"Just as Caesar won a position in ever rank of government in ancient Rome, the doctor has put his  
bid in to be elected to every executive office in the world."  
"That will never work," Rouge said laughably.  
"I know," Shadow replied, smiling a little, "It's merely a distraction."  
Rouge frowned. "Shadow...why do you still want to conquer the world? When I last saw you, you  
seemed committed to saving it, even if it meant giving your life."  
Shadow's smile disappeared. He glanced about the room for a moment, then looked out into space  
once more. "This room once belonged to Dr. Jamie Potter. She wasn't the most personable of  
Professor Gerald's colleagues, but she was a good person, and one of the few scientists who regarded  
me as a fellow living being instead of simply the professor's project."  
"What happened to her?" Rouge asked quietly, sensing a kind of angry sadness beneath Shadow's  
words.  
"She was murdered," Shadow said bluntly, turning his red eyes to look at the bat. "Just like the  
other one hundred and eighty scientists aboard the ARK. According to the report G.U.N. spoon-fed  
the media, she and many of the others died when one of the levels suddenly decompressed. In reality,  
the chamber walls of her heart and left lung were shredded by a bullet. But G.U.N. never told the  
world that, nor would the world care if they did."  
"You're wrong, Shadow," Rouge said, rising to her feet. "G.U.N. is going down. The world has  
taken them to court. They're going to pay."  
Shadow laughed cynically. "Oh please, Rouge. Fifty years ago, G.U.N. committed a massacre.   
They murdered one hundred and eighty of the world's brightest scientific minds. Now, only when the  
entire world is threatened, are they called to justice."  
"One hundred and eighty people is a lot, Shadow, but six billion does strike me as a bit more  
important."  
"More important?" Shadow sneered, turning to face Rouge fully. "How many of those six billion are  
dying of AIDS, or cancer, or a mutant strain of an old plague? Who among the scientist who once  
lived here might have found the cure fifty years ago? Or today?"  
Rouge looked away. "I didn't mean to sound insensitive, Shadow. I feel bad for those scientists. I  
really do."  
"Then help me," Shadow said, suddenly stepping forward and taking Rouge by the shoulders. "Help  
me make a world where G.U.N. and their atrocities can never occur again."  
Rouge gazed into Shadow's eyes for a moment, scrutinizing his words, trying to see if he meant was  
he said. Unless he was the ultimate liar, she decided, he was genuinely looking to save the world again.   
But was he going about things the right way?  
"What do you want me to do?" Rouge asked quietly.  
Shadow gave her a thankful smile and released her. "I've already sent Nack to obtain the Chaos  
Emeralds," he began.  
"How did you manage to convince him to do that?" Rouge interrupted, a sly grin touching her lips.  
Shadow gave her a dark smirk. "I convinced him it was in his best interests. He's working with the  
doctor now. What I need for you to do is bring me the Master Emerald."  
Rouge's grin dropped. Getting the Master Emerald meant going to Angel Island, which also meant  
she would see... "I don't think I can do that," she said, looking away.  
"A vaunted treasure hunter such as yourself giving up already?" Shadow asked, a touch of scorn in  
his voice. "You won't be alone. I'll go with you."  
Rouge didn't seem to like that idea much more. "No, I'll get it on my own."  
Shadow frowned. Something was wrong with Rouge. Her uncharacteristic indecisiveness told him  
that much. "I'll at least get you to the island. All you have to do is grab the gem and get it back to me."  
"But why the Master Emerald?" Rouge asked, almost desperately.  
"The Master Emerald can cancel-out anything the Chaos Emeralds do," Shadow answered. "If we  
have both, then nothing can stop our plans."  
Rouge paused in thought, then gave Shadow another sly smile. "And am I part of this 'us'?"  
Shadow returned the look. "If you help me, yes."  
"Then I guess I should get ready," Rouge said, heading for the door leading out into the hallway.   
"Ready for what?" Shadow asked.  
"Ready to be a world ruler," Rouge replied. "After all, by default, all the jewels of the world will be  
mine."  
"Indeed," Shadow agreed, smirking. Together, the mobians exited the room. Rouge found, to her  
surprise, that the guard had long since been dismissed. Apparently, Shadow had expected her reply.  
  
  
**Chapter Four**  
  
Dr. Eggman was divided on his emotions. On the one hand, he was happy to be back in his Egg  
Carrier, now rechristend the Egg Atlantis. With Shadow's use of the Chaos Control technique, they  
had teleported to the Egg Carrier and checked it for any serious damages. After a little rewiring and a  
few hull replacements, the Egg Carrier was ready for its new life as the submarine, the Egg Atlantis.   
Shadow had asked where Dr. Eggman had found the resources to build and fix the craft. The doctor  
had merely waged his finger with a chuckle, keeping the secret to himself.  
On the other hand, he was used to controlling the craft by himself and to whatever destination he  
desired. Instead, he was driving the Egg Atlantis at the direction of Nack, who was currently lounging  
on the control panel, just under the viewing glass. Dr. Eggman hadn't liked Nack much the one instance  
he had run into him on Angel Island. Now, having gotten to know the weasel better, Dr. Eggman liked  
him even less.  
"For you sake, Nack," Dr. Eggman warned, "You better find those Chaos Emeralds."  
"Relax, Eggy," Nack replied, his eyes covered by his hat. The weasel propped one leg across his  
knee and continued to doze. Dr. Eggman fumed.  
"If Shadow wasn't using that blasted fake emerald, I could use it to track down the other Chaos  
Emeralds."  
"Yeah, well you don't," Nack replied with a smirk, "So you've got to rely on my treasure hunter's  
sixth sense."  
"Shadow should have tossed you out of the nearest airlock," Dr. Eggman growled.  
Nack raised the brim of his hat with his thumb and looked at Dr. Eggman. "Well, if you had gotten  
this thing to fly instead of sink, we'd be able to get to where we're going faster."  
"It would have been disastrous to fly the Egg Carrier."  
"Why?"  
Dr. Eggman let out a sigh. He hated dealing with simpletons. "Every human and mobian on Earth  
thinks that I'm still exiled on the ARK. If they saw the Egg Carrier flying through the skies, they would  
know I was back on Earth."  
"Alright, I'll buy that," Nack said, sitting up, "But what if we run into a submarine or something?"  
"Oh, we already have," Dr. Eggman replied, a dark smile etching its way beneath his bushy  
mustache.  
"We have?" Nack asked, looking out into the dark blue abyss around him.  
"Oh yes," Dr. Eggman cackled. "And I'm happy to say some of the weaponry on this craft  
remained intact after it crashed into the ocean."  
"How many...?" Nack began, swallowing nervously.  
"Three or four," Dr. Eggman answered distractedly. "Now stop asking pointless questions and start  
sensing those Chaos Emeralds."  
Nack nodded and looked towards the surface of the ocean. He was trapped in this over-sized  
submarine with a homicidal madman. Perfect. Nack's ear twitched, and he looked towards the west.   
"What's to the port, captain?" he asked.  
Dr. Eggman tapped a few keys on the armrest of his throne, bringing up a holographic map.   
"Westside Island," he replied. "Do you sense a Chaos Emerald?"  
Nack waved his hand at Dr. Eggman, motioning for silence. The weasel concentrated for a  
moment, then nodded. "Yeah, definitely in that direction."  
"Then Westside Island, here we come!" Dr. Eggman cackled, typing in the course.  
  
  
  
**Chapter Five**  
  
Tails refreshed the news web page for the seventh time in ten minutes. Once it had loaded, the  
result was the same: Nothing new. The map's colored push-pins had barely changed. Amy rubbed her  
eyes and yawned with a stretch. The U.N. trial was dragging along as the lawyers fought each other  
with archaic laws and loop-holes, leaving G.U.N. virtually untouched in the past two weeks. Dr.  
Eggman's political move was failing miserably and had long since lost its front page rights in the  
newspapers. All-in-all, it was a slow news day.  
Amy got up from her chair and ran a hand through her quills. Her face contorted in disgust. "Oh,  
yuck! I'm going to take a shower."  
"A shower?" Tails ask absently as his eyes glanced over the news site.  
"Yeah, that thing where you wash the dirt and two days of inactivity off your body," Amy replied  
with a giggle.  
"Oh," Tails replied, chuckling a little himself. "I'll start checking some of the slower news sites.   
Maybe they caught a story that fell through the cracks."  
"Go right ahead," Amy said, heading for her room. "But you might want to think about bathing too.   
Being cute doesn't absolve you from being clean." She gave Tails a playful wink and disappeared.  
"Yeah, yeah," Tails replied with a smirk. He swished his tails, turned back to the computer screen -  
then froze. He ran Amy's last sentence through his mind again. 'She thinks I'm cute?' he thought to  
himself. Nobody had ever called Tails "cute" in such a fashion before. Did Amy really think he was  
cute? What's more, did Tails return the sentiment? Tails smiled a little to himself, his tails swishing a  
little faster.  
"Well, she is, kinda," he admitted to himself. Maybe, he thought, once the whole G.U.N. problem  
was resolved, he might ask her out to something simple...like a movie, or lunch or...  
Tails shook his head vehemently. Now was not the time to think of such flights of fancy. The fox's  
fingers flew over the keyboard and guided the mouse quickly as he searched for news...but that warm  
feeling in his cheeks wouldn't pass. As Tails tried to concentrate on anything aside from his emotions,  
the telephone rang. After about the third ring, Tails looked over his shoulder.  
"Amy, could you get the...," he began, but cut himself off short. The muffled sound of rushing water  
was coming from her room. "That's right, she's showering," Tails muttered to himself as the phone rang  
again. Tails spun around in his chair and picked up Amy's wall-mounted cordless phone. "Hello?"  
"Good afternoon, Miles," a familiar voice replied.  
Tails frowned. "Can I ask who's calling?" he asked. Where had he heard that voice before?  
"That's 'may' you ask who's calling," the voice replied with a dry chuckle.  
"If this is a prank call...," Tails began, peeved.  
"Step out on the patio and look down at the corner phone booth," the voice instructed. Tails, with  
some trepidation, slid open the sliding glass door and stepped out onto Amy's modest patio. He  
looked down at the empty street below, and to the public phone booth standing at the street corner.   
Ashura leaned out the door and waved.  
"If I had been a sniper, you'd be dead by now," he said cheerily.  
"Ashura!" Tails exclaimed, backing away from the open air.  
"Relax, champ," Ashura crooned. "While G.U.N. wants you and Ms. Rose, I'm content with Sonic.   
Since I already have my brother where I want him, I don't need you or her. So I've decided to be nice  
and give you a chance to slip out of G.U.N.'s little trap."  
"How do I know this isn't some sort of trick?" Tails growled.  
"You're just going to have to trust me," Ashura answered. Even though he could no longer see him,  
Tails could envision the cruel smile on the hedgehog's face as he said that.  
"Alright," Tails consented, "What are they planning?"  
"Nothing short of a repeat performance of what they did in the jungle," Ashura replied, his voice  
becoming business-like. "I was sent ahead to watch you two and make sure you didn't fly the coop.   
G.U.N. will be here in a half hour. I suggest you and Ms. Rose leave before then."  
"Fine," Tails said, then hung up.   
"You're welcome," Ashura sneered as the dial-tone suddenly blared in his ear.  
"Amy!" Tails yelled, banging on the bathroom door. He heard the water shut off and the shower  
current get flung aside.  
"What?" she asked from the other side of the door.  
"G.U.N.'s on the way! We have to get out of here!"  
"What?! Alright, I'll be right out!"  
Tails bolted to her closet, found the smallest of her suitcases, and tossed in whatever articles of  
clothing came within his reach first. When Amy came out of the bathroom, dressed in her red dress,  
she found Tails dismantling her computer, the suitcase at his feet.  
"Where are we going?"Amy asked nervously.  
"I don't know," Tails admitted, pulling his hard drive free, "But it has to be far away from here."  
Amy nodded and picked up her suitcase as Tails headed for the door. "Should I pack something  
for us to eat on the way?"  
"No time," Tails replied. "We have to get to the Tornado now. We'll stop to eat later."  
The duo hurried down the hall, opting for the stairs over the elevator. Tails had explained it would  
be too easy to be trapped in an elevator. They reached the bottom of the stairwell and opened the only  
door present, then exited into the parking lot. Tails had hidden his transforming mech in the alleyway  
behind Amy's high-rise. Together, they turned the corner and hurried down the narrow alley.   
"It's right behind this dumpster," Tails told her, his voice hushed instinctively.  
With a whirr and a grind, Ashura brought the Cyclone, the mech form of the Tornado, into a  
standing position. "So it is," he said, smiling darkly at the young mobians. As Ashura rose in the  
Cyclone's cockpit, six G.U.N. assault droids stood, their blaster arms aimed at the duo.  
"You said I could trust you!" Tails snarled.  
"No, I said you had to," Ashura corrected. "You made the mistake of actually doing so."  
"Why are you doing this, Ashura?" Amy pleaded.  
"Frankly, I'd prefer letting you go," Ashura said, looking at Tails. "But in accordance to my deal  
with Commander Frederick Creed, I have to help G.U.N. capture you two as well. So come along  
peacefully, hm? It would make things so much easier."  
"No way!" Tails exclaimed. He reached back for Amy's hand. She shrunk away. Confused, Tails  
shot her a questioning look. Amy shook her head. With a sigh, Tails took to the sky, his two tails  
spinning like the rotor blades of a helicopter. Ashura and the assault droids all turned, taking aim at the  
fox. Ashura was about to target Tails when something when flying overhead, emitting a war cry. Amy  
gracefully pivoted in the air and landed in the center of the ring of assault droids. With a flick of her  
wrist, Amy activated her mallet, and with one mighty circular swing, leveled the assault droids.  
"That's some hammer," Ashura marveled, then brought the Cyclone's Volkan cannon to bear on the  
pink hedgehog. Tails dropped from the sky and bounced off of Ashura's head. The hedgehog let out a  
grunt and fell on the controls, sending the Cyclone staggering into the wall.  
"I'm gonna smash him," Amy announced coldly, advancing on the dazed Ashura, her mallet ready.  
"There's no time!" Tails declared, grabbing her wrist and pulling her down the other end of the alley.   
"We'll just have to find another way to escape."  
"I hope there's a cab near-by," Amy replied, retracting the hammer. Tails suddenly stopped,  
bringing Amy to a halt beside him. He had suddenly remembered the way the streets had looked when  
he had gone out on the patio. It was early afternoon in the city. There wasn't a single car or pedestrian  
on the streets when he had looked at Ashura.  
"G.U.N. is already here," Tails said with a gulp.  
"You mean we're trapped?" Amy stammered.  
Tails looked around the alley frantically. If they went to the roofs, G.U.N.'s snipers or hidden pods  
would be waiting for them. If they tried to run down the street, any number of ground forces could run  
them down. A whirring from behind them told Tails that Ashura had recovered. They were out of  
time.  
"Tails?" Amy urged.  
"I don't know," Tails sighed, a sense of defeat tightening his stomach into a knot. "We can't go  
forward, backward, left, right or up."  
Amy's eyes focused on something at the end of the alley. "Then we go down," she said excitedly.  
"What?"  
"Come on!" Amy ordered, reversing the wrist grip and dragging Tails into the middle of the street.   
Tails looked up and saw numerous headlights of armed pods rising from the roof-tops to take aim.   
Amy stopped short of the middle of the road, raised her mallet again, and brought it down on the very  
edge of a manhole cover. With a dull metallic ring, the circle of steel went flipping into the air.  
"The sewer?" Tails asked.  
"I don't like the idea at all," Amy replied, "But it's better than Ashura."  
Deftly, they jumped through the hole and landed on the narrow brick walkway below. Not pausing  
to tell how G.U.N. would react, they raced into the inky darkness with only the pinpoints of light from  
the occasional manhole cover and the sound of rushing water to guide them. Ashura drove the Cyclone  
up to the open manhole and peered down.  
"Not bad," he mused.  
The manhole crashed to the ground, cracking the asphalt.  
  
  
**Chapter Six**  
  
Deep within an icy cave, a sparkle like blue starlight flashed. Space and time distorted briefly, and  
in a flash, Rouge and Shadow were standing in the cave. Shadow staggered and put one hand out,  
bracing himself off of one of the icy stalagmites. Rouge put a hand on his shoulder.  
"Are you alright?" she asked as Shadow panted. The black hedgehog glared down at the fake  
emerald, but never voiced his thoughts.  
"I'll be fine," he said at last, standing once more. "I'll just need another minute before we confront  
the echidna."  
"Why don't you let me handle this," Rouge offered, moving between Shadow and the exit from the  
ice cavern. Shadow gave her a wary look.  
"Why?" he asked.  
"He got the best of me on the ARK," Rouge explained. "It's time I evened the score."  
Shadow smirked darkly, his breathing slowly returning to normal. "Alright then. I'll be right here."  
Rouge nodded, gave Shadow a quick salute, then turned and left. She opened her wings and glided  
over a small pond of ice-cold water, then stopped short at the caves exit. The cavern beyond showed  
no signs of frost. A warm wind blew in, rustling a frond just beyond the icy portal. Rouge stepped out  
into the next cavern, marveling. She turned and looked out into the night sky. A few coniferous trees  
stood on a narrow grassy plain. Mountains jutted up suddenly to her right. To her left, tethered to  
Angel Island by a rickety old bridge, was Shrine Isle. At the very top, like a beacon, sat the Master  
Emerald.  
Rouge swallowed, then snuck out into the grass, not noticing the hand-carved archway around her.   
With a jump, she spread her wings and flew over to Shrine Isle. The rock crumbled away as she dug  
her claws into its side, and she climbed as quietly and as quickly as she could. Her heart was racing.   
On the one hand, she didn't want to run into him, because they would be at odds again, and she didn't  
want that. But on the other hand, she did want to run into him, just so she could see him again. The  
one man she had come across that was her equal and who treated her like one. Rouge tried to push  
her thoughts aside, however, and pulled herself onto the grass.  
"Good evening," Knuckles called. Rouge gasped and stood. The echidna wasn't a full foot away  
from her. Rouge let out a nervous sigh and smiled.  
"Long time, no see, treasure hunter," Rouge greeted.  
"I haven't had to hunt for a while now, thankfully," Knuckles told her, crossing his arms.  
"Oh?" Rouge asked, stepping up to the Guardian and running a finger lightly across his shoulder.   
"Where's your sense of adventure?"  
Knuckles smirked and tried desperately not to react to the touch. When everyone had parted ways  
a month ago, he had gotten a funny feeling about Rouge. But there was always one thing on Rouge's  
mind, and Knuckles had a really big one sitting out in the open, waiting to be stolen.  
"What brings you to my island?" Knuckles asked, ignoring Rouge's question.  
"Oh, things," Rouge replied, giving Knuckles a fake smile. She knew she had to get the Master  
Emerald to Shadow quickly, or he would begin to wonder. But at the same time, she didn't want to get  
on Knuckles' bad side again.  
"What kinds of things?" Knuckles asked, keeping his eyes on Rouge.  
"Actually," Rouge said with a sigh, "I'm in a bit of a predicament."  
"Oh?"  
Rouge nodded. "You see, I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. There's something I need to  
do for somebody, but if I do it, it will hurt someone very special to me."  
"Okay..."  
"But if I don't do it, I might get into some serious trouble," Rouge continued. "So, what do I do?"  
"Are those your only options?" Knuckles asked earnestly. A sparkle of blue starlight illuminated the  
night briefly.  
"No," Shadow answered from atop the alter. "She could opt to not do either."  
"Shadow?" Knuckles gasped, "You're alive?"  
"I'm starting to get tired of people saying that," the hedgehog sneered.  
"I told you I'd handle this," Rouge wailed.  
"You were taking too long," Shadow replied bluntly.  
"Wait," Knuckles commanded, "What's going on?"  
"Knuckles?" Tikal called as she came around the base of the alter, "Who are these people?"  
"I'm not sure," Knuckles growled, locking his eyes with Rouge's. "Are you two friend or foe?"  
"Knuckles...I...," Rouge stammered.  
"We're friends to the world," Shadow replied loudly, "Although you might not think so at first. I'm  
sorry, treasure hunters, but I've decided to handle things the easy way." With a single fluid motion,  
Shadow leapt into the air, curled into a compact ball of spines, and smashed into the Master Emerald.   
With a glassy shriek, the giant gemstone shattered, its pieces flying everywhere.   
"Shadow, no!" Rouge cried.  
"You idiot!" Knuckles roared. "I don't know if the Master Emerald can be repaired a third time!"  
Shadow gave Knuckles a cold smile, then raised the fake Chaos Emerald in hand. "That's not my  
problem," he replied. "Chaos Control!" In another flash of blue starlight, Shadow disappeared.  
"What do you mean, it can't be repaired?" Rouge asked.  
Before Knuckles could answer, a shudder went through Angel Island. Knuckles and Tikal  
exchange frightened looks. Then all three looked to the small flock of chao running to meet them. With  
another shudder, the island began to fall. Rouge felt the ground begin to leave her feet. She gasped  
and dropped, having to grab the ground and pull herself to it. The smaller and much lighter chao,  
however, began to fly off into the dark sky. Tikal and Knuckles managed to grab a few, but most were  
lost as Angel Island began to howl through the sky.  
As the tiny infant cries were eaten by the rushing wind, the sloshing water in the altar's fountain  
began to congeal. Knuckles yelled some order to Rouge and Tikal, but it was lost in the wind as the  
small continent hurtled to Earth. The water finally rose in the form of Chaos, who looked around, its  
very basic features managing to look perplexed. Then, suddenly, Angel Island found the ocean. The  
impact caused the mobians to bounce off of the ground and caused Chaos to lose its physical form for a  
moment. The deafening crash echoed across the waves for a moment, and then silence hung over  
Angel Island.  
Knuckles groaned and forced himself to his feet. Everything in his body ached, but he knew things  
were about to get bad. Tikal rose slowly, a small cut above her eyes trickling blood. She was hurting  
as bad as Knuckles, but her first action was to rock and croon to the chao screaming with fright in her  
arms. Rouge lifted her head and saw another chao in front of her. It was not crying. It was not  
moving. The tiny emotion dot above its head had disappeared. It was dead. Slowly, ominously,  
Chaos rose again from its puddle. Its glazed eyes moved about the scene.  
"Tikal," Knuckles mumbled, trying to warn her. He staggered towards the dead chao, then  
collapsed, the shock to his body too much to handle. Chaos lumbered over to its dead child and gazed  
at it, then at Rouge. From somewhere within its watery body, Chaos let out a growl and began to  
advance on the bat.  
"Chaos," Tikal called weakly. The monster stopped and looked over to the young echidna. "She is  
not at fault," Tikal continued, rocking the chao who hadn't quieted at all. "She's a victim. A victim,  
Chaos."  
Chaos rumbled, looking back at Rouge. The bat turned her head slowly and looked up at Chaos,  
horrified. From above them, shrill cries began to rain down. Chaos watched as the chao that had been  
blown away in the fall splash into the ocean. The former God of Destruction lost all interest in Rouge  
and dove into the ocean, its body immediately disappearing.  
"What is that?" Rouge wheezed.  
"Chaos," Knuckles answered gruffly, trying to fight to his feet again. "It's harmless unless the chao  
get in trouble."  
Rouge nodded slowly and tried to get up as well. Out in the surf, the chao were floating towards  
each other as Chaos manipulated as much of the ocean as he could. A soft rain began to fall on the  
island. It was the water displaced by the island's impact. Knuckles walked to the edge of Shrine Isle  
and watched as Chaos retrieved its children. Rouge, staggering a little, joined him.   
"Did you mean what you said?" she asked, "About the Master Emerald?"  
"Yes," Knuckles answered.  
"We should still try to gather the shards," Rouge said.  
"There's one problem," Knuckles replied.  
"What?"  
"There isn't any land for miles. All the shards will fall into the ocean and sink to the bottom."  
Rouge was silent for a long while. "I'm sorry," she murmured at length.  
Knuckles eyed her angrily. Two replies came to his mind immediately: one was biting and sure to  
hurt her feelings. The other was to punch her. But as he watched a tear escape her eye, he realized  
that this wasn't what she had planned. Her hypothetical question of only a few minutes before came  
back to him. Knuckles let out a sigh and put a hand on her shoulder.  
"We'll find a way," he said finally. He looked over his shoulder at Tikal, who was still rocking the  
crying chao, and crying herself. "We have to."  
  
  
**Chapter Seven**  
  
Ashura walked up to Commander Creed's office door and knocked. The guards on either side of  
the door seemed to pay no attention to the hedgehog.   
"Come in," Creed's voice called from behind the door.  
Ashura entered, closing the door behind him. He then turned to Creed and took a military at-ease  
position. "We had an agreement, Commander," he said evenly.  
"If this about your new orders..." the commander began.  
"The deal went like this," Ashura continued, "I helped G.U.N. exact its revenge on the six involved  
with the ARK-fiasco in exchange for the ability to kill my brother. I don't recall being sent to odd  
locations to assassinate people being part of that deal."  
"Feeling queasy about killing?" Creed asked with a smirk.  
"Hardly," Ashura replied with a sneer, "But it delays my hunt for Amy and Tails, and thus delays the  
execution of my brother. So unless this new mission of yours directly effects the fate of Sonic, I suggest  
you..."  
"It just might, Agent Daemon," Creed interrupted. He waited for Ashura's temper to cool a few  
degrees before continuing. "Honestly, you should learn to set personal vendettas aside. Now then,  
someone has been collecting the Chaos Emeralds. We've been able to identify him as Nack the  
Weasel. Ring a bell?"  
"I've never heard of him."  
"He's a treasure hunter, but he doesn't have much a file anywhere. It's suspected that he's the true  
identity of Fang the Sniper, who's reputation I'm sure you've heard of."  
"You're mistaken, Commander. What does he have to do with our operation?"  
Creed glowered at the hedgehog. "G.U.N. has also been trying to get the Chaos Emeralds. But this  
Nack character is moving too fast for our forces to keep up with and remain covert."  
"You call one hundred armed pods and blocking off seven blocks of city traffic covert?"   
"It's your fault they escaped."  
"Where were the forces meant to cover the sewers? Or did you not think of that, Commander?"  
"Enough," Creed warned darkly. "The point is, Nack is posing a major threat to G.U.N. and its  
future right now. It would be greatly appreciated if you took care of him for us."  
"Fine," Ashura hissed, "But this job won't be for free."  
"What's the price?"  
"As soon as I take care of this Nack person, I get to finish Sonic off."  
"I want Prower and Rose done away with first."  
"Honestly Commander," Ashura said with a smile, "You should learn to set personal vendettas  
aside."  
Creed set his jaw. "Alright, then. Stop Nack, and you get Sonic. But you will continue to assist us  
in the capture and elimination of the others."  
"Of course, Commander," Ashura replied. "I live by my word."  
Creed caught the insult, but let it slide. If he was going to pick a fight with Ashura, it would be when  
he knew he could shoot the hedgehog. Right now, he would have to get his gun from a desk drawer,  
and that would take too much time. "You will be taken to a camp we've set up. The island you'll be  
dropped off on held one of the Chaos Emeralds. With Nack grabbing up so many of them so quickly,  
we thought it best to lock-down the island, rather than try to move the emerald."  
"Makes sense," Ashura agreed.  
"That emerald is the closest to the last sighting of Nack that we know of. You'll simply wait for him  
to come to you."  
"A walk in the park, as it were," Ashura said.  
"I certainly hope so," Creed replied with a dark smile. "You're flight leaves in fifteen minutes, Agent  
Daemon. Dismissed."  
  
*****  
  
G.U.N.'s camp was set on a small island far beyond the boarders of any watchful nation. A thin  
jungle laced the land between the island's shore and a large, inactive volcano that rose from its center.   
The volcano had been extremely unstable in its active days, and its magma and lava flows had burned  
out many an ashy cave. The upper cavern was now the resting place for a pair of helicopters, while the  
soldiers of Spider Troupe lived in the caves below. The Chaos Emerald had been locked away in a  
room made of felled palm trees built into a corner of one of the deeper caverns. And all this could be  
seen by Dr. Eggman's super sonar device.  
"What do you think?" Dr. Eggman asked as he and the weasel looked over the holographic display  
of the network of caverns.  
Nack removed his hat and scratched his head. "Shouldn't be too hard. There's virtually no cover  
on the eastern shore, so that'll have the least guard. I'm betting a pair of snipers, though."   
"So the east shore is out of the question," Dr. Eggman mused.  
"Quiet the opposite, doc," Nack said with a smirk as he secured his hat back on his head. "Fang is  
the best sniper in the world. I'll be fine. So let's surface already."  
Minutes later, Nack bounced over the waves on the Marvelous Queen as the sun's first rays of  
morning began to peek up behind him. As he rode towards the back side of the dead volcano, he  
scanned its crags for where he would set up a shot if he were the snipers in question. Once he had  
fixed them in his mind, he drew his laser pistol and set it to its silenced mode. He rode two feet onto  
the shore before he took his first shot, then immediately veered to the right, cut a tight U-turn, and fired  
at the other spot he had memorized. He brought the Marvelous Queen to a stop and looked at his  
targets. He could see the barrel of a sniper rifle at an odd angle at one point, and a body at the other.   
Nack smirked to himself, then drove away from the surf. He powered down his bike and patted it  
affectionately.  
"Stay put, Queenie," he instructed lovingly, "This shouldn't take me too long."  
Nack began to scale the eastern side of the dead volcano, keeping an eye on his snipers. Once he  
had reached a spot above them, he checked to make sure he had succeeded. Both were dead. With  
another smirk to himself, Nack scaled the rest of the face until he came parallel with the bottom lip of  
the helicopters' caves. From there, he crawled around the width of the volcano until he could see the  
landing struts of the helicopters. A pair of guards marched lazily around the crafts. Nack hoisted  
himself into the cave, slunk under one of the helicopters, and headed for a crack in the wall Dr.  
Eggman's super sonar had picked up. It was too small for the average human, even the average  
mobian, but Nack was used to slinking through tight corners and wedged himself into the crack  
unnoticed. He slithered his way down through the volcano and exited the crack behind the palm tree  
walls. The dark blue Chaos Emerald seemed to shine for him.  
"Hello there, beautiful," Nack chuckled.  
"I bet you say that to all the hedgehogs," a voice replied.  
Nack moved nothing but his eyes. Hiding in one of the dark corners of the cell was a green  
hedgehog with black highlights along his eyebrows, outer legs, and stomach. A single shock of black  
hair hung between his brown eyes, as if to mirror the black stripe that ran up his top spine.  
"I don't believe we've been formerly introduced," Nack said pleasantly, then drew his laser pistol  
and shot at the hedgehog. With amazing speed, the hedgehog leapt aside, rushed forward, grabbed  
Nack's wrist and directed the pistol away.  
"My name is Ashura," the hedgehog said, then head-butted the weasel. Nack staggered for a  
second, then punched at Ashura's face. The hedgehog's hand came up and stopped the fist. There  
were noises outside the cell. Nack's shot had blown a hole in one of the tree trunks and winged one of  
the sleeping soldiers. Nack glared at Ashura, then made as if to head-butt him back. As Ashura  
flinched back, Nack turned his snaggletooth fang to the hedgehog's arm, slashing it quickly. Ashura  
hissed in pain and released the weasel. Nack brought his pistol to bear on Ashura, but the hedgehog  
kicked his hand, throwing the shot off. The sound of many soldiers coming to attention reached their  
ears.  
"Time to go," Nack announced pleasantly, grabbing at the Chaos Emerald.  
Ashura growled and spin-dashed the weasel, sending him against the back wall. Nack was about to  
make another grab for the gem when the door to the cell swung open. Nack quickly squeezed his way  
into the crack and slithered upwards.   
"He's going for the helicopters," Ashura said to the first soldier through the door. "Tell them to shoot  
on sight."  
"They're not responding," one of the soldiers said, an ear to his walkie-talkie.   
"Then they're dead," Ashura said, still holding his wounded arm.  
By the time the soldiers of Spider Troupe made their way around the base of the volcano, Nack  
was out to sea on the Marvelous Queen. They shot at him ineffectively, and he disappeared into the  
Egg Atlantis.  
Minutes later, Nack stormed into the command center of the Egg Atlantis. Dr. Eggman was  
watching a magnified holographic image of the island. The would-be world ruler turned to look at the  
breathless weasel.  
"What happened?" Dr. Eggman growled.  
"Some hedgehog was waiting for me," Nack heaved.  
Dr. Eggman paused. "Shadow?"  
"No," Nack panted, shaking his head. "Ashura, or something."  
Dr. Eggman hummed in thought. "I take it you didn't get the Chaos Emerald then."  
"Nope," Nack replied, wiping blood from his fang.  
"Then you may retrieve it from the ashes," Dr. Eggman said with a dark chuckle. He began typing in  
a command to the armrest of his throne.  
"Come again?" Nack asked.  
"When I said the Egg Atlantis retained some of its offensive abilities, I wasn't joking." From around  
them, magnified and distorted by the water, they heard the sound of missiles launching.   
"Surface," Nack ordered, "I want to see this."  
The first missile hit the volcano directly. The next volley set the jungle ablaze. The soldiers of  
Spider Troupe first tried to give orders to each other, then were left to screaming as the fire and  
explosives rained down on them. Ashura backed into the imploding caves, panicking. There was no  
way out. The Chaos Emerald seemed to flash mockingly at him. Just then, Ashura remembered his  
meeting with his brother. The memory came back to him vividly as Sonic stood beside him, the G.U.N.  
helicopters closing, and no obvious escape in sight. Sonic had turned to his brother, smirked and said   
"You just don't know how to take a chance."  
Ashura looked at the Chaos Emerald again as the entire cave shook. He could hear the helicopters  
and tons of stone from above crashing down. He dove for the emerald and gripped it tightly in his  
hand.   
"Chaos Control!" he screamed desperately.  
  
*****  
  
Nack clicked on his walkie-talkie with a sigh. "It's not here. You incinerated it, you fat doofus."  
"The Chaos Emeralds are indestructible!" Dr. Eggman's voice roared back. "Are you sure you can't  
find any remains of that hedgehog?"  
"I can't tell the remains of a tree from a soldier, Eggy," Nack replied tiredly, "And you want me to  
distinguish between human and mobian?"  
"Never mind," Dr. Eggman growled. "We have four Chaos Emeralds already. We'll find the last  
two first, then try to locate the one you lost."  
"I lost?" Nack laughed. "Listen, I just want to be there to see Shadow's face when you tell him you  
fire-bombed the emerald."  
There was a moment of silence from Dr. Eggman's end.  
"Let's keep that between us for now," he muttered. Nack chuckled and clicked off his walkie-  
talkie, then headed back for his Marvelous Queen.  
  
  
**Chapter Eight**  
  
Amy yawned and stretched as the first light of dawn touched her face. She dully realized that her  
feet were cold and wet, but the rest of her felt relatively warm. With her eyes still closed, she began to  
feel about her. She was sitting on something rough and ungiving, but she was loosely wrapped by  
something warm and fuzzy. Then it came back to her suddenly - Tails banging on the bathroom door,  
the desperate escape, the night of running blindly through the sewer, occasionally having to wade  
through water that's stench was almost unbearable.  
Amy opened her eyes slowly and saw what had kept her warm during the night. Tails had wrapped  
them both in his tails to the best of his ability. She smiled quietly at his sleeping face. Tails was a  
certified hero, and was as serious as Sonic about saving the day. More serious, sometimes. But in  
sleep, he had the same effect as a puppy - the greatest degree of endearing cuteness to be possessed  
by a living creature. But his age was beginning to lengthen his muzzle, giving him a maturity that  
matched his mind. Tails seemed to have found the happy balance of cuteness and handsomeness...  
Amy shook her head, blinking the sleep out of her eyes. Thinking like that would lead one to  
believe she was falling for the young fox. Not like that would be a bad thing, but she had committed  
herself to Sonic. But Sonic didn't seem to want to give her the time of day, while Tails had come to her  
first when it came to rescuing Sonic. When Sonic left her behind, she felt left out. When Tails left her  
behind, she got a sense that it was in an attempt to protect her. She didn't like it that she missed the  
action, of course, but Tails' reasons were easier to deal with. She smiled again and freed one hand to  
lightly stroke the whiskers on his cheek. Tails stirred and yawned. Amy giggled. That yawn had been  
cute.  
"Good morning, sleepy-head," Amy crooned.  
Tails lifted his fists and rubbed his eyes. "Sleeping in a sewer sucks," he announced.  
"Yeah," Amy agreed, "So let's get out of it."  
Tails looked past Amy and blinked and the rosy sunrise pouring across them. In the darkness of the  
night, they hadn't realized that the pipe they were running down exited out into the sea. Amy grimaced  
as she stood and held her nose.  
"What a smell to wake up to," she whined nasally.  
Tails got up and stretched. "Well, which way should we go now?"  
Amy looked at the sun silently for the moment. "Into the nearest city," she replied matter-of-factly.   
"And stick to the coast."  
"Are you sure?" Tails asked, his fur prickling slightly. Amy's words had sounded oddly prophetic.  
Nodded with an affirmative hum. "Trust me."  
"Alright," Tails consented. He tucked his hard drive under his arm, then took to the air over the  
outlet into the sea and held one hand out to Amy. Amy held onto the handle of her suitcase tightly and  
grabbed Tails' hand. With a grunt, Tails airlifted them to the shore a few feet above. They put the sun  
to their shoulders and began to walk.  
  
  
**Chapter Nine**  
  
Shadow removed his welding goggles with a sigh and typed in a command to the console of the  
command center of the ARK. There was the hiss and whine of static for a moment, then Dr. Eggman's  
face appeared on the screen.   
"Good morning, doctor," Shadow greeted, "How goes the hunt?"  
"Excellent," Dr. Eggman replied. "We've managed to obtain five of the Chaos Emeralds. We're en  
route to number six, and..."  
"And?" Shadow pressed, growing stern.  
"Well, we had a bit of a problem with number seven," the madman admitted.  
"Ask him if Chaos Emeralds can burn," Nack said loudly from off the screen.  
"Shut up!" Dr. Eggman barked.  
"I'll handle number seven, doctor," Shadow said.  
"You will?" Dr. Eggman asked, a bit taken aback.  
"I've completed the work here on the ARK. All I need now are the seven Chaos Emeralds."  
"Excellent," Dr. Eggman commended, chuckling darkly. "Once we've obtained number six, I'll  
teleport to the ARK and deliver them personally."  
"So you've completed the teleporter on the Egg Atlantis, I take it?"  
"I have. Have you completed my little side project?"  
"I've built the majority of it, but you'll have to put on the finer touches once you come up here."  
"That's fine," Dr. Eggman said. "By the way," he asked with a dry chuckle, "How am I doing in the  
polls?"  
"You haven't a chance in the world," Shadow answered with a smirk.  
Dr. Eggman threw back his head and laughed. "We'll just see about that. Here's to bluffing,  
partner!"  
"To bluffing," Shadow echoed, raising his hand as if to toast.   
"Until then, Shadow. Dr. Eggman, over and out." The screen went blank.  
Shadow smiled a little to himself and peered down at the Earth below. Soon, very soon, he would  
bring the answer to the troubled people below. And he would fulfill his promise to Maria.  
  
  
**Chapter Ten**  
  
It had been thirty-six hours since Ashura had suddenly appeared on the burnt and barren remains of  
Prison Island. It had been twenty-four hours since an in-coming troupe found him and brought him to  
the infirmary. It had been two hours ago since Ashura had recovered from his wound and his first use  
of Chaos Control. It had been seconds after Ashura knocked on the guarded door when Commander  
Creed called him into his office.  
"Just what the hell happened out there?" Creed asked before Ashura was even fully in the room.  
Ashura paused, his mind still hazy from his experience. "Where?" he asked quietly.  
"On the island where you were supposed to be protecting that," Creed answered, pointing  
vehemently at the Chaos Emerald still in Ashura's vice-like grip. Ashura brought the gem up to his  
eyes, wondering. "The paramedics couldn't pry it out of your hand, even when you were unconscious."  
Ashura smiled a little.  
"So?" Creed pressed.  
"Nack had a great deal of back-up," Ashura replied flatly. "Unfortunately for him, they were so  
anxious to clear the island of any opposition, they fried him along with Spider Troupe."  
Creed eyed Ashura skeptically. "How do you know?"  
Ashura turned a cold eye to the commander. "I saw him vaporized. That's when I decided to make  
a run for it."  
"Using Chaos Control," Creed added.  
Ashura touched his head gingerly, but for effect, nothing more. "I suppose. I honestly don't  
remember." He then looked at Creed with a dark smile. "No matter. Nack is dead, and your Chaos  
Emerald is secure. I get to kill my brother now."  
"You're not the one who killed Nack," Creed replied, a cruel smile twisting onto his lips.  
Ashura glowered. "Let's not get cheap now, Commander."  
Creed chuckled lightly, opened a draw in his desk, and handed Ashura his pistol. "At least kill him  
with my gun."  
"A pleasure," Ashura lied. Ashura exited the room, the gun hidden mostly within the cuff of his  
glove. He made his way down the multiple corridors of the underground base. Finally, the doors to the  
prison hall hissed open. Ashura strode in and pulled the commander's gun. In the other hand, he held  
the Chaos Emerald. Sonic looked up from his bunk and eyed his brother.  
"Can I help you?" he asked snidely.  
"Yes," Ashura replied, aiming at Sonic. "Just hold still, runt."  
  
  
**Epilogue**  
  
And so, on the fringe of South Island, Amy and Tails made their way through to the city, hoping to  
lose G.U.N. in the sea of people. Nack and Dr. Eggman continued their search for their last Chaos  
Emerald. Rouge and Knuckles began to search the ocean for the shards of the Master Emerald, while  
Shadow used the power of the fake emerald to home in on one of the last Chaos Emerald. And deep  
below the surface of the wasted Prison Island, Sonic sat as his own brother stood ready to shoot  
him dead.  
  
END OF ACT TWO  
  
To Be Concluded in:  
"Metal Sky" part three of the "Metal - The Last Chapter" series. 


	4. Metal Sky Part III

"Metal Sky" - Part three of the "Metal - The Last Chapter" series.  
Story (c) Ian Flynn  
Sonic and all related material (c) Sega  
Ashura (c) Kiken and written by the interpritation of the author  
  
**Chapter One**  
  
Sonic shook his head in amazement. "That's a heck of a story, Big," he said.  
"But it's true," Big replied plaintively.  
Sonic nodded with a smirk. "I didn't mean I didn't believe you. It's just the fact you tailed me for  
most of that adventure. And with the help of Ashura and Nack no less."  
"I don't like them," Big said with a slight moan.  
"Yeah," Sonic sighed, "Me neither."  
The door to the prison hall hissed open. Ashura strode in confidently, one arm wrapped in gauze.   
He stood before Sonic's cell door and pulled a gun from his glove. In the other hand he held the dark  
blue Chaos Emerald.  
"Can I help you?" he asked snidely.  
"Yes," Ashura replied, aiming at Sonic. "Just hold still, runt."  
"Too chicken to go toe-to-toe?" Sonic asked with a smirk. The confidence was a mask for his fear.   
Ashura had been after him for most of their lives, and Sonic knew that in this position, Ashura wasn't  
bluffing. This really would be it.  
"Actually, I prefer it to end this way," Ashura replied. "I've played G.U.N. like a harp, learned  
Chaos Control without your help, and have you utterly helpless. It's not the most dramatic end for you,  
but even that satisfies me in a way."  
"So what are you going to do every year when we're supposed to meet?" Sonic asked. He had to  
buy himself time. For what, he had no idea, but it had to keep Ashura from pulling the trigger.  
Ashura smirked. "I'll throw a party, Sonic. Now shut up and die," he replied, leveling the gun.  
"No!" Big wailed. The giant feline reached out with one long arm and grabbed Ashura by the top  
spine of his head and jerked. Ashura yelped and staggered back. With a grunt, he snapped his head  
forward and escaped Big's grasp. He turned, snarling and took aim at the purple cat.  
"That was a mistake," he informed Big venomously, then pulled the trigger. Nothing happened.   
Ashura stood dumbfounded for a minute. He then slid the clip out and inspected it. It was empty. The  
doors to the prison hall hissed open again as Commander Frederick Creed walked in leisurely, gun in  
hand. Ashura turned to face the commander, his eyes gleaming with rage.  
"What kind of stunt are you trying to pull, Creed?" he hissed, trembling with anger.  
"I should be asking you that, Agent Daemon," Creed replied, a mirthless smile on his face. "Not  
only did you lie, but you were about to shoot my throw-rug-to-be."  
Big whimpered.  
"I never lied to you, Creed," Ashura replied darkly.  
"Oh no?" the commander asked. "Then how is it I just got a report that Nack stole another Chaos  
Emerald, right out of the hands of Scorpion Troupe's excavation team?"  
Ashura was silent for a minute. "They must be mistaken."  
"How many purple weasel treasure hunters do you know that are after the Chaos Emeralds?" Creed  
barked, losing all of his casual pretenses and leveling his gun at Ashura. "You've outlived you  
usefulness and trustworthiness, Agent Daemon."  
"As have you," Ashura replied, hurling the gun at the commander's head. Creed, an exemplary  
marksman, shot the gun in the air, sending it clattering to the floor. It still served as enough of a  
diversion for Ashura to surge forward, grab the commander's wrist with his free hand, and direct the  
gun away from them.  
"Chaos Control!" Ashura declared. In a sparkle of blue starlight, the two disappeared. Sonic and  
Big looked at each other.  
"Are you okay?" Big asked in his deep, nasal voice.  
"Yeah," Sonic replied. "Thanks man, I owe you one."  
"We need to get out of here," Big observed, a healthy dose of panic in his voice.  
Before Sonic could reply, there was a steady banging from the air conditioning grate in the ceiling.   
The screen finally fell to the floor, along with a large green frog with orange markings. It held something  
small, thin and white in its mouth.  
"Froggy!" Big cried happily. With the groan of twisting metal, Big wrenched his cell door from its  
tracks and heaved it down the hallway. The giant cat picked up the frog and nuzzled it. "I missed you,  
good buddy!"  
Sonic was speechless for a moment. "Big..."  
"What?"  
"You just tore the door from its frame."  
"Oh...sorry."  
"No! That's a good thing!"  
"No, I've made enough of a mess already," Big said ashamedly.  
Sonic rubbed his face in frustration.  
"Hey, what do you have there, Froggy?" Big asked curiously as he took the white object from the  
frog's mouth. Sonic peered through the bars, then smirked. It was a G.U.N. key card.  
"Big, that'll open my cell door," Sonic said. "Slide it through the lock, then punch in the number on  
the card."  
It took Big a minute to register all the instructions. Froggy hopped to Big's shoulder and began to  
croak, as if to coach the giant feline. Big nodded, then slid the card through the groove in the lock, then  
looked at the card and entered the access code. With a beep, the door unlocked and rattled its way  
into the ceiling.  
"Alright," Sonic said, enjoying the freedom of movement. "We need a way out of here." He looked  
at Big and frowned. "You're too big to fit down the hallways. How did they get you in here, anyway?"  
"That way," Big answered, pointing in the opposite direction of the doors Ashura and Commander  
Creed had used to enter the hall.   
"Then let's move it," Sonic said, and the three made their way down the hall quickly and quietly,  
Froggy riding on Big's shoulder. The hallway ended with what looked like a blank wall. Sonic found  
another access panel, and with Froggy's key card, opened the wall. It led to a little-used hallway that  
lead to an elevator used primarily for moving large containers of supplies or weapons. The mobians  
rode down the elevator, only to find themselves in a massive underground hangar. In the distance, a  
few maintenance crews worked on a handful of the jets present.  
"I don't suppose you know how to fly any of these?" Sonic asked, wondering if his limited piloting of  
a biplane would be enough to fly one of the jets.  
"I flew that one before," Big answered quietly, pointing. Sonic looked to where Big had pointed and  
almost laughed aloud. There sat the Tornado. Ashura had used it to fly back to Prison Island after  
Amy and Tails had escaped. Now it seemed to silently beckon to them.  
"When did you fly that?" Sonic asked quietly as he and Big made their way to the Tornado.  
"When I got off the big ship after you helped me save Froggy," Big answered.  
Sonic nodded, chuckling a little to himself. That explained why the Tornado 2 had been found  
crashed outside Big's hut. Sonic hopped into the cockpit and looked at the wide array of button, dials,  
and monitors. After a quick game of Eeny-Meeny-Miney-Mo, he pressed a button at random. With a  
series of whirrs and clanks, the Tornado transformed into the Cyclone. Sonic grinned sheepishly at Big.  
"This is my first time in a mech," the hedgehog admitted. In the distant part of the hangar, he could  
see the noise of the transformation had gotten the attention of the maintenance crews. Some ran to  
trigger an alarm, while others ran to get weapons.  
"Great," Sonic muttered, looking over the controls, "Now how do I fire the stupid cannon on this  
thing?"  
"That button," Big replied, pointing.   
"Oh," Sonic replied. With a press of the indicated button, the Cyclone's targeting laser arched  
across the planes in the hangar, locking on half of the planes present, and then vaporizing them with  
laser bolts. Sonic smirked and looked around the hangar, spotting the landing pad that doubled as an  
elevator to the surface. With a few unsure moves of the control stick, Sonic coaxed the Cyclone to run  
drunkenly to the elevator, with Big close behind.  
"Now," Sonic said, looking across the room, "How do we get to the surface when the controls for  
this elevator are on the other side of the room?"  
"Let me see," Big answered, reaching across Sonic and into the controls of the Cyclone. Big gently  
directed the Cyclone so its cannon aimed at the control panel, and pulling the trigger, fired at the switch.   
It clicked to the 'ON' position and shattered. With a grind, the landing platform began to rise, the  
camouflaged surface above splitting open.  
"How do you know how to work a mech?" Sonic asked, almost annoyed.  
"Nack stole one of Eggman's," Big answered. "I drove it some."  
"When?!"  
"When I was looking for you," Big answered. "How else do you think I got past G.U.N.?"  
Sonic shook his head in disbelief. The platform reached the surface, and at Big's direction, Sonic  
transformed the Cyclone back into the Tornado. Big hefted himself onto the tiny craft, clutched Froggy  
close to his chest, and then they were off.  
  
  
**Chapter Two**  
  
Shadow the Hedgehog stood at one of the bay windows that looked down at Earth. He held the  
fake yellow Chaos Emerald towards the planet, his eyes closed, his mind searching. Shadow despised  
the fake emerald. Its power was not only less than that of the Chaos Emeralds', but it reacted badly  
with him when he used Chaos Control. While Tails had managed to duplicate the wavelength and  
properties of the real emeralds, there was still something artificial in its nature, deeper than science  
could ever delve. And Shadow felt it every time he teleported with its power. It also made him respect  
Sonic even more for not only using Chaos Control, but with such substandard materials.  
Suddenly, there was a spark of energy. Shadow felt it flash through his senses, and a vague mental  
image came to him. Without hesitating, Shadow focused on it as best he could and declared, "Chaos  
Control!" In a sparkle of blue starlight, the hedgehog vanished, only to reappear next to a hedgehog and  
a man.  
Shadow staggered slightly and took in a scene. They were in a desert, he observed. The baked  
earth was etched with minute cracks where the ground had shriveled away from itself due to the lack of  
moisture. Shadow looked to his struggling company. One was a hedgehog who looked remarkably  
like Sonic, but with different colorations. His fur was a bright green, as opposed to blue, and had black  
highlights along his eyebrows, legs, stomach, and along the center of his top spine. A long black shock  
of hair flapped as the hedgehog fought with a man Shadow only knew too well.  
"Commander Creed," Shadow said darkly. Creed looked up, surprised.  
"Shadow?" he asked in disbelief. The distraction was enough for Ashura to stop grappling and  
punch the commander in the face. As Creed staggered back, Ashura snatched the gun from his hand  
and took aim at the commander. Panting, Ashura looked over to the other hedgehog.  
"So you're Shadow the Hedgehog," he said with a wheeze. "Nice spines."  
Shadow nodded to Ashura. "You too. The markings make a nice touch. Ashura, I take it?"  
Ashura smirked. "You've heard of me?" he asked.  
"The Chaos Emerald gave you away," Ashura said, nodding to the dark blue gem in the hedgehog's  
hand.  
Ashura mused for a moment. "I take it you know Nack then."  
"I sent him to find the Chaos Emeralds, yes," Shadow replied.  
"Well, he nearly struck a vein," Ashura said, showing Shadow his bandaged arm.  
"I'm sorry about that," Shadow said. "But let's continue this conversation later. I believe the  
Commander is feeling left out."  
"Indeed," Ashura said, a dark smile cutting into his face. "I'll save you the dramatic speech, Freddy.   
You die now."  
"Just a moment," Shadow interrupted as Ashura took aim. "Would you mind if I killed him?"  
Ashura glared at Shadow. "I've been dealing with this guy for two months. I really want to kill him."  
"He slaughtered a small village that took me in after my fall back to Earth," Shadow replied. "One  
girl, named Maria, wasn't finished with grade school."  
Ashura winced, then looked to Creed, who was slowly backing into desert. "I knew you were a  
louse, Creed, but that's wrong. Even I won't kill children."  
"Don't tell me you've grown a conscience," Creed sneered, his heart racing.  
"I don't need a conscience to tell me what's just plain sick," Ashura retorted, lowering the gun and  
looking over to Shadow. "He's all yours."  
"Thank you," Shadow replied, turning his blood-red eyes to Creed. The commander turned and  
began to flee into the desert.  
"He's running," Ashura laughed, "From you of all people!"  
"Hold this for a minute, will you?" Shadow asked, gently tossing the fake emerald into Ashura's  
arms. "I won't be long." Shadow started off in a light jog, then fired the jets in the soles of his feet  
and began to glide across the baked ground, his arms and body swaying like an Olympic skating  
champion. In moments, he was on top of the commander. Shadow leapt, curled into a ball, and shot  
forward, slamming into Creed's back. The wet snap of ribs and vertebrae met the hedgehog's ears.   
Shadow landed and walked over to Creed's head.  
The human turned his eyes up to Shadow, his face covered in hot sand. He spat bloody spittle at  
Shadow's feet. "There's more where I come from," he gasped. "Killing me will accomplish nothing."  
"I promised Maria Robotnik that I'd make the people of Earth happy," Shadow replied quietly.   
"And since I consider myself one of Earth's inhabitants, I'll start off by making myself happy."   
Ashura winced as Shadow finished, but the green hedgehog couldn't help but smile in satisfaction.   
Once Shadow had returned, Ashura set everything he held on the ground and clapped.  
"That was perfect," he applauded. "Much better than simply shooting him."  
"Indeed," Shadow replied, looking back at the commander's body for a moment. With a sigh, he  
turned back to Ashura. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to take the blue Chaos Emerald with me."  
"Oh really?" Ashura replied. "I've become quite fond of the Chaos Control technique, actually."  
"Then take the yellow one," Shadow replied, suppressing a dark smirk.  
Ashura blinked and picked up the yellow gemstone. "You don't mind?"  
Shadow shook his head. "I've already used it for my purposes. I need the other one now."  
"It's not drained of its power, is it?" Ashura asked skeptically.  
Shadow shook his head, smiling. "According to myth, their power is limitless. Besides, if I had  
drained it of its power, how did I use Chaos Control to come here?"  
"Good point," Ashura said, handing the dark blue Chaos Emerald to Shadow. "Please excuse my  
paranoia, but I've lied so much in the past few months that I've started to think everyone's lying to me."  
Shadow smirked. "Who else can we trust but our own kind?"  
Ashura smirked in return, but at his own secret joke. "How true. Well, it was a pleasure meeting  
you."  
"The pleasure is all mine," Shadow replied. "Farewell." The black hedgehog raised the gem into the  
air and called out "Chaos Control!" In a twinkle of blue starlight, he was gone. Ashura looked at the  
body in the distance, smiled, and held the fake emerald to the sky.  
"Chaos Control!" Ashura cried. In another flash, he was returned to the prison hall. But he hadn't  
counted on the gem being fake. The sensation wasn't the all-consuming move like with the Chaos  
Emerald. Something deep within him was wrenched out of place. With a gasp, Ashura collapsed. As  
he shuddered on the floor, Sonic and Big were riding to the surface and making their escape.  
  
  
**Chapter Three**  
  
Amy came out of the bathroom still toweling her head-quills dry. "Your turn," she announced to  
Tails. The young fox stepped away from the window and hurried into the bathroom, closing the door  
behind him. Seconds later, the sounds of the shower came muffled through the door. Amy took Tails'  
place at the window.  
After they left their hideaway in the sewer, Amy and Tails and wandered to the nearest city. They  
were extremely wary of everyone and everything they came across, but the area was generally as active  
as a coastal town would be expected to be. After a few hours of walking, the stench and filth from the  
day before became unbearable. They went to the first hotel they came to and rented a room for three  
days. Tails' plan was to bathe quickly, then slip out unnoticed. If G.U.N. was looking for them, they  
would be looking in the wrong place for at least three days.  
Still, they couldn't be too careful. So as Amy showered, Tails had kept watch. Now Tails washed  
himself of the filth of the sewer and Amy kept her green eyes on the street below for any signs of  
slacking traffic, or at worst, an all-out attack. Something across the street caught her eye. She made a  
mental note of it, and when Tails came out of the bathroom, she called him to the window.  
"Look over there," she said, pointing to what she saw. It was a boat rental shop that sat right at the  
road's edge and backed into a peer as the sandy shore tapered off under it.  
"Yeah. So?" Tails asked, swishing his tails so that they'd dry faster.  
"We need to get a boat," Amy replied.  
"Why?" Tails asked, perplexed.  
"Trust me," Amy replied with a small smile. The two mobians snuck out of the hotel and cautiously  
made their way across the street. The man behind the counter of the rental shop was large and rotund  
in a jolly sort of way. His skin was tanned a deep brown, and his eyes seemed lost in the wrinkles  
made by his constantly smiling cheeks.  
"Aloha kids," he said with a slight chuckle. "What can I do for you?"  
"We'd like to rent a boat," Tails answered.  
"Naturally," the man laughed good-naturedly. "You wouldn't happen to have pre-ordered one,  
would you?"  
"No, we..." Tails began.  
"Yes," Amy answered.  
The man looked between the two for a moment, then picked up a clipboard. "Under what name?"  
"Rose," Amy replied. Tails gave the hedgehog a puzzled look.  
"Right-o," the man replied, tossing the clipboard under the counter and grabbing a small key ring.   
He leaned across the desk and showed the keys to Amy. "This one here will unlock the padlock, and  
this one will start up the engine. Got it?"  
"Got it," Amy replied cheerily.  
"Alright then," the man said with a laugh, "You kids have fun. And don't go getting into any  
mischief," he added, waging one finger and winking.  
Tails and Amy blushed madly.  
The man threw back his head, laughing, and waved them off. "I'm just kidding, you two. Have fun."  
"Thank you," Tails murmured, embarrassedly, then followed Amy to their boat. They unlocked it,  
boarded it, and set out to sea in silence. Tails waited until they were well on their way before he asked:  
"Where are we going?"  
"Hmm?" Amy asked, looking over from the wheel.  
Tails stood and walked over to Amy, a questioning look on his face. "How do you know where  
we're going? How did you have a boat already rented? When did you pay for it? There's a whole  
bunch of questions around all this, Amy."  
The pink hedgehog's brow furrowed in thought. After a moment of silence, she looked up to Tails,  
a haunted look on her face. "I don't know," she whispered.  
Tails was taken aback. Things had gone from curious to creepy quickly. "Do you think it's like how  
things were prepared for you when you came down from Little Planet?"  
Amy's eyes darted about as she thought, then nodded. "Yes," she whispered. "That's why I don't  
like to think about it at all. It just doesn't make sense. It scares me."  
"You were surprised about the bank account, I remember that," Tails said, "But how did you know  
about the boat?"  
"I don't know," Amy whimpered. "I don't know how I knew about the boat, or that we should even  
head for the city. I just don't know!" Amy released the wheel and covered her face with her hands.   
Tails stood uncomfortably for a minute, then stiffly went to hold her. She went to him, and Tails  
loosened as actually held her to comfort her. They stayed like that for a few minutes until Amy regained  
a handle on life. She pulled back and met her eyes with Tails'. The wind stirred their hair gently, and  
neither said a word for a long while.  
"We're...we're going to drift off course," Tails said quietly, "Without someone at the wheel."  
"Yeah," Amy replied, her voice equally hushed. "But I don't want to do it. It means I have to know  
without knowing."  
Tails smiled a little and laid a hand on her cheek. "It'll be okay," he said. "Trust me."  
Amy sniffed, then laughed a little. "I know you're right," she said, "Without even knowing why."   
They laughed together, but the sound was still a little uneasy. There was something between them  
now that they didn't quite know how to deal with. Amy turned and took the wheel again. She closed  
her eyes, and after a moment, began to turn it. She silently, unknowingly steered a for a long while as  
Tails watched the horizon in silence, occasionally looking at the ocean around them to see if G.U.N.  
was after them. An hour passed, and then Tails excitedly grabbed Amy's arm.  
"Amy! Look!" Tails exclaimed.  
"What? What?" Amy asked, opening her eyes slowly as if coming out of a trance. Her eyes quickly  
focused as they locked on the spectacle before them however. "Oh my...!"  
  
  
**Chapter Four**  
  
Knuckles clawed to the surface of Angel Island and spat the air necklace from his mouth. In his  
hand was a green, crystalline object. Dripping wet, he walked towards Rouge, who was napping  
while he had gone searching. Knuckles smiled a little at her, even though he still partially blamed her for  
the destruction of the Master Emerald. Rouge had been vehement about her intent to help restore the  
Master Emerald, and not just to take it once it was whole. The problem was that all the shards had  
fallen into the ocean, and they had to dive relatively deep as the pieces slowly sank to the ocean floor,  
or as the current swept them away.  
The problem was that Knuckles' air necklace, which converted water to breathable oxygen  
seamlessly, wouldn't fit Rouge's mouth. So instead, she braved the unthinkable. With the help of Tikal,  
a plan was implemented with the aid of Chaos. It had taken Tikal hours to explain to Chaos that the  
key to avenge the dead chao, and to protecting the living, was to regain the Master Emerald. So  
Chaos took to the ocean waters and pushed them away, creating a bubble of air. Rouge got into the  
bubble, into Chaos, and together, they searched the oceans until Chaos grew weak or until Rouge's air  
ran out. When they returned to the surface, Knuckles resumed the search while they rested.  
Knuckles leaned slowly over Rouge's sleeping form and let the cold water rain from his dreadlocks  
onto her face. She stirred, then awoke with a start. Knuckles stepped back as she sat up quickly and  
wiped herself dry. She cut Knuckles a mildly-amused smirk.  
"You think you're so funny, don't you?"  
"I try," Knuckles replied.  
Rouge looked to his hands. "How many more did you find?"  
"None, unfortunately," Knuckles replied.  
"Then what's in your hands?"  
Knuckles showed her. It was the green Chaos Emerald. "When I sensed it, I thought it was a large  
shard. It turned out to be a Chaos Emerald instead."  
"So you brought it up. But why?"  
"I hoped that maybe it would attract the shards, or at least kept them steady in the ocean so they  
won't get too much farther out of reach."  
Rouge shook her head and stood. "Knuckles, while I'll help you no matter what, I think this is a lost  
cause."  
"Lost cause or not," Knuckles retorted, "It's still my duty."  
"Says who?"  
Knuckles paused. "That's not important. The point is that it's my responsibility as the Guardian of  
the Master Emerald."  
"You don't know who's involved, do you?" Rouge replied, walking up to the echidna.  
"No," Knuckles admitted quietly.  
"And yet you still stick to it."  
"What other choice do I have?"  
"What other choice do you have?" Rouge echoed in disbelief. "Knuckles, you're a treasure hunter!   
Your skills are being wasted sitting on this rock. You should be out there, living life to its fullest, hunting  
down the most elusive treasures in the world."  
Knuckles smirked. "And give you competition?"  
Rouge laced her arms around one of Knuckles' and balanced her chin on his shoulder. "I would  
share the jewels of the world with you."  
Knuckles didn't quite know how to handle that. After a moment, he stuttered, "I'm not one for the  
adventurous life."  
Rouge smirked a rebuttal.  
"I mean, I don't go looking for it. That's Sonic. I only get involved when the Master Emerald is."  
"I'd show you the ropes," Rouge crooned, reaching out and taking Knuckles' hand in her own, her  
arms still wrapped around his.   
"You would, huh?" Knuckles asked, swallowing audibly.  
"It'll be fun!" Rouge replied, untangling herself and rocking back, stilling hold his hand. "Come with  
me! We'll travel the world, taking every treasure that comes within our reach!"  
"But the Master Emerald..."  
"Those shards are bound to wash ashore all over the world," Rouge replied. "We'll keep an eye  
open for them as we travel. Knuckles, you can't waste your life here! You belong out there, out free,  
with me!" Rouge suddenly let go of Knuckles hand, realizing just how much she had said. She looked  
at Knuckles self-consciously. The echidna stared back at her, dumbfounded.  
"Or search for your emerald," Rouge replied quietly, turning away.  
"Now, wait..." Knuckles began. He was cut off by a rumbling from the ocean. The waves parted  
as the Egg Atlantis surfaced, a handful of turrets across its hull pivoting to point at the mobians. A  
portal opened in the side, and Nack rode out on the Marvelous Queen. Not too far behind, unseen by  
all, Amy and Tails were sailing towards them.  
"Great, it's Nack again," Knuckles sneered.  
"You know him?" Rouge asked, scowling at Nack as he drove up to them.  
"He's been on my island twice," Knuckles answered. "The last time, he stole the Master Emerald. I  
tracked him to Egypt, but his trail went dry, and I found you."  
Rouge smirked. "That's because I stole it from him."  
Knuckles smirked. "I always wondered about that."  
"And a good afternoon to you all, ladies and germs," Nack said as he pulled the Marvelous Queen  
to a stop and drew his laser pistol. "If you'd be so kind as to toss that Chaos Emerald this way, I'll  
leave you and the lovely lady to your new beach-front property."  
"And if I refuse?" Knuckles snarled.  
"Then Eggy plays the 1812 Overture, complete with cannon fire," Nack replied, hooking a thumb at  
the Egg Atlantis and its turrets.   
"I wouldn't recommend that," Rouge said with a smirk.  
Nack smiled and crossed his legs, sitting causally on the hover-bike. "And why not?"  
"Because you'd kill all the chao around the altar," Rouge replied with a smile.  
"And that would make Chaos every angry," Knuckles added with a smirk.  
"You mean that thing that leveled most of Station Square?" Nack asked, his confident smile staying,  
but becoming obviously false.  
"Oh yeah," Knuckles confirmed.  
Nack reached his free hand over to a button on the Marvelous Queen and turned on the  
communication screen. "Did you get all that, Egg-Boy?"  
"They have to be bluffing," Dr. Eggman's voice replied from the screen.  
"Tikal!" Knuckles called over his shoulder, "He thinks we're bluffing about Chaos!"  
Tikal emerged from behind the altar and turned to the fountain about it. "Chaos! Rise and show the  
aggressors your fearsome presence!" With a gurgling noise, the ancient God of Destruction rose and  
glared out at the Egg Atlantis. Nack made a whimpering noise. Dr. Eggman's insane laughter came  
from the screen.  
"No matter!" he laughed. "We already have the Chaos Emeralds! If Sonic could defeat Chaos in its  
zero-state, then Shadow will make very short work of him. Your trump card has been trumped,  
echidna!"  
"It could still use the power of one Chaos Emerald!" Rouge retorted.  
"That's no good either," Knuckles said quietly.   
"What do you mean?" Rouge asked.  
"I defeated Chaos when it had up to six Chaos Emeralds. It really isn't much trouble until it has  
become Perfect Chaos."  
"Ooh! Well ain't we tough," Nack snickered. "Okay, enough chit-chat. Hand it over."  
Rouge glared at Nack as Knuckles begrudgingly began to walk over to the weasel. "Why are you  
helping them, Nack?"  
"Because I like my chances of being with Dr. Eggman and Shadow better than being with a soggy  
echidna, two-timing bat, and defunct god," Nack replied.   
Knuckles offered the Chaos Emerald to Nack with a growl.   
"See? That wasn't so hard, now was it?" Nack prodded as he took it from the Guardian.  
"Not so fast!" a deep, nasal voice pleaded. It wasn't directed as a challenge to Nack. It was a  
desperate plea to Sonic. Everyone looked skyward to see Sonic and Big diving from the sky in the  
Tornado.  
"Sorry Big Guy," Sonic replied, "But this is no time to be slow!" The Tornado roared just over their  
heads, causing the mobians to duck. Knuckles looked over to the distracted Nack, and with great  
delight, slugged him. Nack toppled off the Marvelous Queen, and the Chaos Emerald went tumbling to  
the ground. The turrets on the Egg Atlantis seemed to lose interest in the islanders and turned to shoot  
down the Tornado instead.  
"You're going to have to jump!" Sonic called to Big.  
"Okay," Big whimpered. "Are you ready, Froggy?" he asked as the clutched the amphibian to his  
chest.  
Froggy croaked something.  
"Me neither, but here we go!" The giant feline hopped off the Tornado and dropped into the ocean  
below. The Tornado, relieved of its extra weight, rocketed through the sky. Aboard the Egg Atlantis,  
Dr. Eggman sat hunched at the controls of the turrets as he tried to target a holographic image of Sonic  
and the Tornado.  
"Of all times for him to show up!" the madman muttered. Suddenly, one of the turrets began to  
register that it was no longer functioning. Then another. Soon, all the turrets reported that they were  
inoperable. "What's going on?!" Dr. Eggman roared.  
Atop the Egg Atlantis, Tails and flown Amy from the ship to the massive submarine's hull, and  
together, they had either smashed or disabled all the turrets. Sonic flew overhead and gave them a  
thumbs-up, which they returned with happy waves of greeting. Tails then took Amy by the hand  
and flew over to Knuckles and Rouge. Big and Froggy came from the surf, and Sonic transformed the  
Tornado into the Cyclone and landed with them all.  
Aboard the Egg Atlantis, Dr. Eggman was livid. He frantically signaled the ARK. After a few  
signaling beeps, Shadow's face appeared on the screen.  
"What is it, doctor?" the hedgehog asked.  
"Things have begun to unravel again!" Dr. Eggman cried.  
"Calm down, doctor," Shadow said, his face darkening. "What do you mean?"  
"Nack was about to retrieve the last Chaos Emerald from that blasted echidna when Sonic and his  
friends arrived. They've got Nack surrounded!"  
"What about the Egg Atlantis' defenses?"  
"All disabled, with the exception of the Megaton Egg Cannon in the nose. I repaired it when we  
modified the Egg Carrier for submarine use. I'll vaporize them all!"  
"That won't be necessary, doctor," Shadow replied quietly. "I'll handle this. You just get the Chaos  
Emeralds and return to the ARK."  
"And leave the Egg Atlantis?"  
"It doesn't matter now. The ARK will do the rest."  
"Understood. I'm on my way."  
"See you then," Shadow replied. Then the screen went blank. Dr. Eggman rushed from the control  
room, grabbed the Chaos Emeralds, and teleported to the ARK.  
  
*****  
  
Nack staggered to his feet in time to see Sonic and company land and encircle him. Nack held up  
and empty hand, as if to shoot someone. A chuckle ran though the group.  
"Looking for this?" Rouge asked, twirling the weasel's laser pistol on a finger.  
"Yeah," Nack said, trying to smile snidely. "Hand it over."  
"Not likely, pal," Sonic said, hoping out of Cyclone. Nack began to back away from the hedgehog,  
only to realize he was coming closer to Amy and Tails. He spun around a few times, retreating from  
various heros, then tripped over the Marvelous Queen. The circle stopped closing and the heros simply  
looked down at the pathetic weasel.  
"Um...I give up?" Nack offered with a sheepish grin. Before any other remarks could be made,  
there was a flash of blue starlight. Everyone turned to see Shadow the Hedgehog. He stood just  
behind the green Chaos Emerald, the dark blue one in his hands.  
"Shadow?" Sonic exclaimed.  
"You're alive!" Amy cheered.  
"We thought you had died," Tails announced.  
Shadow rolled his eyes. "I suppose I should be touched that I was missed so terribly."  
"Get him!" Rouge said, pushing past the awe-struck group. "He's the one who sent the Nack to get  
the Chaos Emeralds."  
"A traitor to the end, eh Rouge?" Shadow said with a quiet sneer. Rouge made to tackle the black  
hedgehog, but Shadow went into a spin just as the bat grabbed him. Rouge snapped back and  
bounced once before coming to a rest in the dirt. Shadow picked up the green Chaos Emerald and  
smiled at Sonic.  
"Farewell, faker," he joked. He held one of the gems to the sky and called, "Chaos Control!" In  
a flash of blue starlight, Shadow was gone. Knuckles rushed forward and took Rouge in his arms.  
"Rouge?" he called softly.  
"That hurt," Rouge murmured, slowly coming-to.  
Sonic grabbed Nack's tail and hauled the weasel to his feet. "What does Shadow want with the  
Chaos Emeralds?" he asked.  
"How should I know?" Nack whimpered.  
"You were the one who got them all," Amy sneered.  
"That don't mean nothin'!" Nack retorted.  
"Shadow didn't tell us any of his plans," Rouge said, "Just that he was going to help Dr. Eggman  
conquer the world."  
"But what do Chaos Emeralds have to do with his political standings?" Tails wondered aloud.  
"What political standings?" Sonic asked, utterly lost.  
"Everyone, please!" Tikal cried. They were silenced. "It's obvious that everyone here knows a  
piece of this dilemma. Let's tell our parts one at a time and put it together once everyone knows  
everything."  
"She's how old?" Rouge murmured to Knuckles.  
"About Amy's age, I think," Knuckles murmured back. "I don't get this thing with kids being  
smarter than their elders."  
Rouge giggled at that.  
"Okay," Sonic said, rubbing his hands together. "Who's first?"  
  
  
**Chapter Five**  
  
Dr. Eggman placed the last emerald in his possession into its place. In the room that once held the  
controls of the Eclipse Cannon and the Biolizard, he and Shadow had built a throne atop the false  
Master Emerald altar. At the foot of the throne was a circle with seven places, one for each of the  
Chaos Emeralds. With the Master Emerald no longer a threat, the Chaos Emeralds could be used here  
without any possibility of their power being negated. Dr. Eggman turned and found Shadow  
approaching, the final two Chaos Emeralds in his hands.  
"Excellent!" Dr. Eggman cheered. "Did you meet any resistance?"  
"A trifle," Shadow replied as he mounted the steps.  
"And Nack?"  
"I left him to his fate," Shadow replied. He handed the last two Chaos Emeralds to Dr. Eggman,  
who hurried to put them in their places. Shadow seated himself in the throne, a look of grim  
determination on his face.  
"Are you sure you can do this?" Dr. Eggman asked.  
"First we get the ARK in surface-orbit of the Earth," Shadow said quietly. "I'll see how difficult it is.   
If I deem it still feasible, we'll proceed with our plan. Ready yourself at the cloaking controls."  
"Careful, Shadow," Dr. Eggman warned. "We're partners. Neither of us gives each other the  
orders."  
"I'm sorry if my tone was harsh," Shadow replied. "But we don't want the wrong eyes to see us,  
now do we?"  
"Of course not. But you're sure we can't activate the cloak now?"  
"It uses the Earth's atmosphere to our advantage. We have no atmosphere to work with yet."  
"Of course," Dr. Eggman muttered. "Then let's get this show on the road!" With a cackle, Dr.  
Eggman hurried down the steps and to the commander center. Shadow smiled darkly at the madman's  
back, then concentrated. The Chaos Emeralds flashed about him, a soft hum permeating the room.   
Shadow's body tensed as it called out to the power of the Chaos Emeralds. They pulsed with light,  
then suddenly shone brilliantly. The crackle of raw energy filled the room, and in a flash, Shadow was  
transformed. Shadow let out a startled breath, his body charged once more, his fur having gone from  
black to a shimmering silver.   
"Comm-system online," Hyper Shadow said, slowly getting used to the sensation of his super-form.   
"Doctor, are you in position?"  
"I will be in mere moments," Dr. Eggman's voice replied from an unseen speaker in the room.  
"Then I will go ahead and use - Chaos Control!"  
  
*****  
  
Sonic nodded thoughtfully. "Well, things make a little more sense," he said, "But what did Eggman  
gain by running for the offices?"  
"It was a distraction," Knuckles said, his arms crossed. "With the world wondering about his bid for  
power, their attention was drawn away from any news of missing Chaos Emeralds."  
"Or clashes with rogue troupes along the way," Nack added, rubbing his cheek where Knuckles  
had hit him.  
"But it still doesn't answer the question of why he needed the Chaos Emeralds," Tails said.  
"Well, he does have access to the ARK from his Egyptian base," Rouge said.  
"And the Egg Atlantis," Nack added. "Eggy made a teleporter there, too."  
"So he's probably not on the Egg Whatever now," Sonic mused, glaring at the craft.  
"But the Eclipse Cannon was destroyed, and you said it didn't have any other weapons," Amy said,  
looking to Tails.  
"None that would threaten Earth," Tails confirmed.  
"Then what is that madman up to?" Sonic wondered aloud, frustrated.  
"Uh-oh," Big groaned.  
"What is it, Big Guy?" Sonic asked.  
"It think that's why he wanted the emeralds," the giant feline said, pointing to the sky. Everyone  
looked up at the sky just over the ocean began to twist and ripple, a bright glimmer of blue starlight  
blazing and dispersing the clouds. Suddenly, in a flash, the ARK appeared a few miles above the  
ocean. It began to drift through the sky, as if it had become the replacement for Angel Island. As the  
mobians gawked, the sky began to warp again, as if by heat distortion. Then the ARK was gone.  
"That was Chaos Control," Sonic said, awed.  
"But why would they bring it down to Earth, only to send it back?" Tails asked.  
"It didn't look like they used Chaos Control the second time," Amy mused.  
The mobians waited and watched the sky expectantly. After a few minutes, it began to get dark.   
They watched as a circular shadow began to make its way across Angel Island. Tails slammed a fist  
into his open hand.  
"That's it!" he exclaimed.  
"What is?" Knuckles asked.  
"Dr. Eggman found a way to make the ARK invisible," Tails explained, "But it wouldn't do him any  
good in space. So he got Shadow the seven Chaos Emerald so he could get his powered-up form and  
use Chaos Control to bring it down to Earth and set it in an incredibly low orbit."  
"Now wait just a minute," Nack said. "I'm no rocket scientist, but I know that everything in orbit  
goes thousands of miles per hour just to balance out the pull of the Earth. And I know that thing isn't  
going nearly fast enough."  
"The Chaos Control technique warps space and time," Rouge replied. "I read about it when I  
raided the ARK's files. With the power of seven Chaos Emeralds, Shadow can literally bend or even  
break the laws of nature."  
"But that's got to take a lot out of him," Knuckles said.  
"Oh, it does," Sonic said, glaring at the drifting shadow. "It must have maxed Shadow out to bring it  
to Earth and set it in such an impossible orbit."  
"But the Eclipse Cannon was destroyed," Amy reiterated. "What threat could an invisible ARK  
be?"  
"It cancels any flight plans I have," Nack muttered.  
"The ARK doesn't have any weapons that are a threat to Earth when it's in space," Tails said. "But  
now that it's on Earth, we have a problem."  
"What do you mean?" Sonic asked.  
"I'll explain later," Tails said, turning to the Egg Atlantis. "We have to get that thing ready for battle,  
or flight, preferably both, as fast as possible."  
  
*****  
  
Dr. Eggman approached the altar, then cautiously mounted the steps. He found Shadow, de-  
powered and slumped in the throne. Dr. Eggman looked at the Chaos Emeralds, which glistened dully  
in the low light.  
"Shadow?" the doctor called softly. "Shadow, are you alright?"  
The black hedgehog's eyes fluttered as he regained his sense. "Yes...yes, doctor. I'm fine."  
"Well?" the doctor asked expectantly.  
"We'll have to cut one of the targets off our list," Shadow replied tiredly, "But I can do at least two  
jumps."  
"Excellent!" Dr. Eggman crowed. "I'll go make my announcement to the world, and we can begin  
right away!"  
"No, doctor," Shadow wheezed. "I will need at least a day to rest. Maybe tomorrow."  
"But Shadow...!"  
"The world will wait," Shadow said quietly.  
Dr. Eggman frumped. "Fine. But it's my experience that leaving Sonic any window of opportunity  
can be fatal to a plan."  
"Have no fear, doctor," Shadow said tiredly. "Not even Sonic will stop us this time. I won't let  
him."  
  
  
**Chapter Six**  
  
Aware of the danger to come, the heros (and those in present company) worked tirelessly under  
Tails' direction during Shadow's day of rest. Everyone helped in every way, doing jobs they would  
normally not do. Under the instruction of Tikal, the young chao ran quick errands for the heros. Nack  
and Rouge aided in most of the rewiring, as well as joined Knuckles in sensing out the fuel energy  
crystals that would need to be replaced. When it came to the heavy lifting, Big and Chaos were called  
in. Sonic and Amy did whatever they were told and aided the others wherever help was needed. Tails  
lead them all with authority, and soon the Egg Atlantis was as close to ready as it would ever be.  
"Are you sure Chaos can do it?" Tails asked Tikal as the other wrapped up the last of the  
maintenance.  
"He says he can," Tikal replied. "He thinks his aid as a way of avenging the death of the chao."  
Tails nodded, then smirked a little. "Why do you call Chaos a 'he.' He seems gender-less to me."  
Tikal shrugged. "He says he is the father of the chao."  
"Then who's the mother?"  
"He told me once, but I couldn't understand his explanation. Let's just say there's more to nature  
and magic than we ever conceived."  
Tails nodded and left it at that.  
"Hey Tails!" Sonic called from the command center of the Egg Atlantis. "Eggman's making his  
move!"  
Tails and Tikal hurried and joined everyone else as a large holographic image displayed Dr.  
Eggman's latest pirating of the world's satellites. The madman chuckled darkly as he paused, allowing  
for the general world-wide hub-bub to presumably die down.  
"People of Earth! By now, you should all be well acquainted with my visage. I am Dr. Ivo  
"Eggman" Robotnik, the greatest scientific mind in the world! Nearly two months ago, I opted to stay  
behind on the ARK under the excuse that I found its research facilities quite tantalizing. Many of you  
cried out against it. How right you had been. I was really searching for a new super-weapon, one that  
both Miles Prower and G.U.N. had over-looked. I came out disappointed, but not empty handed.  
"There is a multitude of objects in or about Earth's orbit. Most is simple junk, while some is the  
occasional meteor or comet. To ensure the safety of the labs and their scientists, the ARK was  
outfitted with a dozen turbo-laser gun turrets. These were designed to obliterate large space objects on  
a collision course with the ARK, but were not powerful enough to pose a threat to anything on Earth.   
That is, as long as the ARK remained in space.  
"I have now acquired the power to send the ARK to any point on Earth. At only five miles above  
the surface of the Earth, these gun turrets could prove quite lethal. I can hear you all now: What about  
the running for all the world's offices? It was a ruse, you obtuse fools! By election or by over-throw, I  
will rule this world! I can also hear you now, questioning the validity of my claim. Well, let's just test  
that out, shall we? Now let's see, what's a country that has a nasty habit of being decimated by  
confrontation? Ah yes, France! What better way to get your attention than by reducing the Eiffel  
Tower to slag?"  
Dr. Eggman's image was suddenly reduced to half the screen as an ariel view of the ocean appeared  
in the offer half. The image of the ocean began to distort, then disappeared in a flash of blue starlight.   
Dr. Eggman's image faltered only slightly. Beside him, an ariel view of the Eiffel Tower suddenly  
appeared.   
"Fire!" Dr. Eggman cackled, pressing a button off screen. The view of the tower was suddenly  
awash in red laser fire. In minutes, the tower was gone, with only smoke and some white-hot glowing  
bit of metal visible.  
"Not convinced, eh?" Dr. Eggman cackled. "Then let's pay a house call to the President of South  
Island, who so rudely hung up on me when I first acquired the ARK! To the President's house!"  
The view of the slag disappeared in the effects of Chaos Control, only to be replaced by the image   
of the Presidential Palace. The canons blazed once more. In seconds, the palace was annihilated. Dr.  
Eggman's image expanded and regained the entirety of the screen once more. He chuckled darkly.  
"As eye-witness will testify to, you won't be able to see me once I've come for your nation's capital.   
As always, I give you twenty-four hours before I strike once more. Long live the Eggman Empire!"   
The image winked out. The heros were silent.  
"Let's get moving," Sonic said angrily.   
"Everyone, to your stations," Rouge commanded. Tails seated himself in the command throne and  
drove it up to the command position. Knuckles, Rouge and Nack took their positions at the helm  
controls. Sonic and the others manned their stations. The Egg Atlantis retreated from Angel Island and  
sunk into the waves.  
"Set course for South Island," Tails commanded.  
"South Island it is," Knuckles replied, laying in the coordinates. The heros were off to war.  
  
*****  
  
Dr. Eggman danced and leapt into the Chaos Throne Room. The tails of his coat flapped as the  
oddly proportioned madman danced in glee.  
"We did it, Shadow!" he cackled. "A few small nations have surrendered already! The world will  
be ours!" There was no response. "Shadow?" Dr. Eggman quickly climbed the stairs to find Shadow  
quivering in the throne, his breath raspy.  
"Good....for....us....," Shadow wheezed.  
"Take it easy Shadow," Dr. Eggman crooned, laying a supportive hand on the hedgehog's shoulder.   
"If the world follows the example of the other small nations, you won't have to do that again."  
"But if the world doesn't?" Shadow coughed.  
"One or two more attacks should be enough to sway them."  
"I told you before, doctor," Shadow wheezed, "I want minimal blood-shed."  
"And there will be!" Dr. Eggman promised. "But as the saying goes, you can't make an omelet  
without breaking a few eggs."  
Shadow nodded quietly, then reclined in the throne and began to rest. All around the two, the ARK  
drifted over South Island and to the ocean beyond.  
  
  
**Chapter Seven**  
  
"Do you sense anything yet?" Tails asked.  
"I've got nothing," Nack reported.  
"No," Knuckles replied.  
"I have a faint sense of the emeralds," Rouge reported.  
"Then adapt course to the starboard," Tails ordered.  
Rouge entered in a command to her console, and the Egg Atlantis turned.  
"Now I'm picking up something," Knuckles said, his eyes closing as he reached out to the Chaos  
Emeralds.  
"Still nothing here," Nack reported. At Tails' command, Rouge altered their course once more.   
Nack suddenly straightened. "Whoa...there we go."  
"I have a strong sense of them," Knuckles said.  
"As do I," Rough announced.  
"Then we've found them," Tails announced. "Full steam ahead, Sonic."  
"Aye-aye, skipper," Sonic chuckled, pressing a few buttons on his console.  
Tails tapped a few keys on the armrest of the command throne. A holographic image of Big and  
Froggy appeared. "Raise periscope and tell us when you see the shadow."  
"Aye-aye," Big replied. His image winked out. It was replaced by Tikal.  
"Tell Chaos to be ready," Tails told her.  
"He's impatiently waiting in the air-lock," Tikal replied, a small smile on her lips. Her image winked  
out and was replaced by Big's.  
"I found it," he announced happily.  
"How far?" Tails asked.  
"We're gonna be under it in two minutes," Big answered.  
"Good enough," Tails said, Big's image winking out and revealed Tikal again. "Sonic, all-stop.   
Amy, bring us to launch angle. Tikal? Tell Chaos it's show time."  
"On my way," Tikal replied. She raced over to the air-lock and hit a button allowing the chamber to  
flood. Chaos disappeared into the ocean water. The door out into the ocean opened, and Chaos  
flowed out. The Egg Atlantis suddenly slowed and titled to a fifty-degree angle. Chaos strained around  
it, and spread the ocean aside. As soon as Tails could see sky, he called:  
"Now, Sonic!"  
Sonic gunned the engines. With a roar, the Egg Atlantis took to the sky. As soon as it was above  
the waves, Chaos let the ocean come crashing back together. It quickly flowed back towards South  
Island so it could become whole once more. The Egg Atlantis leveled out and began to fly in a large  
circle. Tails stood up on the throne and, with the press of a button, opened up a comm-link to the  
entire ship.  
"Okay, to keep the Egg Atlantis airborne, we're going to fly as top speed in a circle to maintain  
flight. A small strike team is going to board the ARK and disable the invisibility device. Then, they'll  
evacuate while we use the Megaton Egg Cannon on the ARK. If that doesn't work, we'll set the Egg  
Atlantis on a crash-course with the ARK and abandon it. At best, we want to disable the ARK. At  
worst, we want to drop it into the ocean. All hands, let's get ready to do this!"  
Sonic walked up to Tails when his speech was finished. "Small strike team? I thought I was going  
alone!"  
"You'll need someone to help you find the Chaos Emeralds and someone to disable the cloak," Tails  
replied.  
"Then who's going?" Sonic asked.  
"Me, you and Knuckles," Tails answered.  
"Who's going to pilot this thing then?" Sonic asked.  
"I will," Rouge answered.   
"You've got experience flying battle stations?" Sonic asked with a skeptical smile.  
"You'd be surprised," Rouge replied with a secretive wink.  
"Alright," Sonic said, throwing up his hands. "Let's get moving." As the three began to leave the  
bridge, Rouge said,  
"Knuckles?"  
The echida turned. "Yes?"  
"Make sure you come back in one piece," the bat said.   
"Of course I will," Knuckles replied, "We have treasures to find after all."  
Rouge smiled and blew Knuckles a kiss. Knuckles gave her a wink before running off to catch up  
with Sonic and Tails.  
"I think I'm going to be sick," Nack muttered.  
"Quiet," Rouge warned, turning back to his controls.  
Nack sneered, then turned and looked at Amy. "What about you? Why weren't you all over  
Sonic?"  
"Because I don't think I'll be chasing that hedgehog anymore," Amy answered with a quiet smile.  
Nack threw up his hands in disgust. "That's it. Living proof that Hell has frozen over."  
"Then shut up or pack mittens," Rouge growled.  
  
*****  
  
As the Egg Atlantis's course came close to the circular shadow of the ARK, the strike team  
launched. Tails flew them on the Tornado, Sonic riding the back and Knuckles flying close behind.   
Tails flew towards the shadow, and presumably the underside of the ARK. He watched the horizon  
closely, then smiled. The remains of the Eclipse Cannon were camouflaged to look like the sky, but at  
the angle the trio was flying, it looked as if the sky suddenly dipped into a point, breaking the horizon.   
Knuckles split off from the group and locked his knuckle-claws into the remains of the cannon and  
served as a point of reference for Tails and Sonic. Tails set in the auto-pilot and sent the Tornado in a  
path following the Egg Atlantis. The young fox took Sonic by the hand and flew him to meet Knuckles.  
Together, they climbed the cannon until they came to the access door Sonic has used to disable the  
cannon nearly two months ago. They clambered inside of the space colony, then fell silent as Knuckles  
closed his eyes and felt for the Chaos Emeralds.  
"I'm getting a very centralized sense," Knuckles said, "So they should be together, or close to one  
another."  
"Tails, you know where the control room is, right?" Sonic asked.  
"Yeah," the fox replied.   
"Then head up there," Sonic instructed. "I'm betting the camouflage controls are there. Me and  
the knuckle-head will head for the emeralds, where we'll probably meet Shadow."  
Tails nodded. "Right." The group split up, Sonic following Knuckles. After a few minutes of  
corridors, Knuckles stopped.  
"Here?" Sonic asked.  
"No, but I've figured out where the emeralds are," Knuckles said. "They have to be in the chamber  
where Shadow fought the Biolizard."  
"That would make sense," Sonic agreed. Throwing cautious tracking to the wind, the two heros  
raced through the complex. Suddenly, Tails' voice echoed over the speakers to them.  
"Guys! Help!" the fox pleaded. "They got me trapped in the command room! They -" The voice  
suddenly went silent.  
"I'm coming little bro!" Sonic exclaimed, turning to dash down the hall. Knuckles caught him by the  
arm.  
"Wait!" Knuckles said. "I'll go help him. You go get the emeralds."  
"But..." Sonic began.  
"I hate to admit it, but you're the only one who could take on Shadow. Tails will understand."  
Sonic nodded with a frown. "In that case, let's hope you're right about the emeralds's location."  
"I am," Knuckles replied. The two split up, Sonic racing down the halls. Knuckles retraced his  
steps and took a few short-cut routes. He soon reached the command room, fists raised, blood  
pumping. Tails was alone at a console, hacking into the computer.  
"Knuckles?" Tails asked, "What are you doing here?"  
"Didn't you say you were being attacked?" Knuckles asked.  
"No," Tails replied.  
Knuckles glowered. "It was a trick!"  
"What was?" Tails asked, becoming frantic.  
"I'll tell you later," Knuckles said, "You keep working on that. I've got to warn Sonic." The echidna  
raced to the door, which opened early, revealing a hall stuffed with G.U.N. assault droids. "Then  
again...," Knuckles gulped.  
  
  
**Chapter Eight**  
  
Sonic entered the grand hall that once held the coolant switch Rouge had tripped over two months  
ago as she and the other five people on the ARK raced to neutralize Prof. Gerald Robotnik's  
posthumous attack. Sonic found that the chamber had been drained, and that, on an elevated pillar,  
there was a large mechanical construction just beneath the cusp. At the opposite door, leading to the  
Chaos Throne Room, stood Shadow.  
"Hello, faker," Shadow said. The joking tone was gone from his voice.  
"And here I thought you had changed, Shadow," Sonic chided.  
"I have, Sonic," Shadow replied. "But I can understand how you would question my methods."  
"It's over, Shadow," Sonic replied. "Knuckles will save Tails, your sky-blind will go down, and then  
the others will blast you out of the air."  
"The plea for help was fabricated by Dr. Eggman," Shadow replied. "As for Knuckles, he's trapped  
with your ward in the command center with every remaining G.U.N. robot poised to attack. They'll  
never leave the room alive."  
"Nor will you," Dr. Eggman's voice called. Two metal tendrils suddenly shot from the base of the  
mechanism and grabbed both hedgehogs around the waist. With cries of surprise, they were dragged  
from where they stood, lowered to the bottom of the chamber, and dropped.   
"What are you doing, doctor?" Shadow exclaimed.  
The madman laughed. "You've set the ARK in surface-orbit and helped me scare the world into  
submission. I really have no use for you anymore." He laughed again. "Did you honestly think I'd  
let you rule with me?"  
Shadow smirked darkly. "It doesn't matter. I planned on eliminating you once we had the world  
anyway. Where you would have been a tyrant, I will make the people happy."  
"Not in this life you won't," Dr. Eggman cackled. Two capsules under the cusp of the chamber  
suddenly lit up from within, revealing two hedgehog-like forms. They hissed open, and the occupants  
dropped to the chamber floor. One was sleek and blue with a jet engine for a torso. The other was a  
huge, black Sonic-robot. Dr. Eggman's cackling filled the chamber.  
"Since I was going to try and kill you both at the same time, I thought it perfect for it to be at the  
hands of my fully-upgraded and improved Metal Sonic and Mecha-Sonic."  
"These losers again?" Sonic sighed. "Fine, fine. Let's finish up quick. I have a world to save."  
"Sonic, you take the blue one," Shadow said, giving the hedgehog a knowing look. Sonic looked  
across the chamber to Metal Sonic, then back to Shadow with a smirk.   
"Okay," Sonic replied. "You take Mecha-Sonic."  
"The big one?"  
"Yep."  
"Alright."  
The two hedgehogs took off at a light jog, then began to charge their targets at full speed. Metal  
and Mecha began to advance on them in the same fashion. The two duos raced at each other. At the  
last possible second, Sonic and Shadow shot past each other, curling into their compact balls of spines.   
Sonic smashed Mecha-Sonic in the head, causing the robot to stagger back. Shadow caught Metal  
square and sent the robot across the chamber. He then turned and rocketed across the chamber,  
leaping at Mecha's head as Sonic made to attack the feet.  
Mecha-Sonic began to reach for Shadow, who suddenly shot downward and smashed into its feet  
while Sonic shot up into it's head again. In a swirl of blue and yellow after-images, the hedgehogs  
attacked Mecha high and low, pommeling the robot. Even with its armor, the false-Sonic went to  
pieces at the attacks of the hedgehogs. Across the way, Metal Sonic staggered to its feet, its eyes  
flashing red. Shadow turned to face him.  
"He's mine," he told Sonic.   
The blue hedgehog made a gracious sweeping gesture.  
Shadow's jets fired and he immediately raced towards Metal. Metal Sonic's engine roared as it  
rocketed towards Shadow. The two met, tightening into a spin-dash for an instant, then passing each  
other, uncurling, and skidding to a stop. The chamber was silent for a moment as Sonic wondered who  
had gotten who.  
Shadow turned and smiled at Metal's back. "Game over, faker."  
Metal Sonic turned with a jerky motion, glared at Shadow, then fell in half.  
Dr. Eggman's bellowing suddenly filled the chamber. The pillar the mechanism rested on began to  
turn as platforms began to slide outwards. "Come and get me, if you can," he taunted.  
"Is he serious?" Shadow asked.  
"It's his style," Sonic replied.   
The hedgehogs leapt on the first platform. Immediately, it began to recede into the pillar, and the  
drained coolant began to poor back into the chamber. Shadow frowned.  
"Ah. I see," he said quietly.   
Blaster fire rang out as the underside of the mechanism began to fire at Sonic and Shadow. The  
hedgehogs leapt deftly from one platform to another, the coolant quickly gaining on them. The metal  
tendrils returned and slapped at them. In a frantic show of acrobatics, Sonic and Shadow finally  
reached the top once more. The domed top of the mechanism rose, and the hedgehog could see that  
Dr. Eggman was within, piloting the craft.  
"You did a marvelous job preparing this for me, Shadow," Dr. Eggman laughed. "How ironic that it  
will now be the engine of your demise!"  
"I think not, doctor," Shadow said. Sonic held one arm out, blocking Shadow.  
"This one's mine," Sonic said coldly.   
Shadow took a few steps back, then raced around Dr. Eggman's device. He met no opposition, for  
Dr. Eggman stared directly at Sonic now.  
"So," Dr. Eggman said darkly, "This the final fight, is it?"  
"I've been fighting you for ten years now, Dr. Eggman," Sonic replied. "It's time to put away my  
childhood toys."  
Dr. Eggman threw back his head and laughed. "The only one who's going to be put away is you,  
Sonic!"  
Sonic smirked at the doctor, then began to race along the side of the room. A spike burst from the  
side of the mechanism and smashed into the wall, blocking Sonic's path. Sonic curled and rolled  
beneath it, never losing stride. He leapt, driving himself into the dome of the mechanism. There was a  
screech as the pillar, made of stone, began to give under the metal pivoting motor.   
Dr. Eggman snarled and retracted the spike, turning the laser from under the dome at Sonic. The  
hedgehog raced in a circle, following the walls, leaping over every shot. He ran up the wall and pushed  
off, hitting the dome at the same angle. More rock gave way, and the dome began to let out a mournful  
grind as Dr. Eggman continued to spin, trying to shoot Sonic. The tendrils began to swat at Sonic, who  
jumped over them, or spun beneath. He hit the dome once more and laughed. This was turning out to  
be fun.  
"This is your lamest weapon yet!" Sonic teased.  
"Hold still and I'll show you just how lame it is," Dr. Eggman roared back. Sonic chuckled and  
skidded to a halt.  
"Okay."  
Dr. Eggman slammed on the control stick, turning the dome back to face Sonic. It was one violent  
action too much. The pillar top squealed, then shattered. The dome came crashing down, the pillar  
smashing through the floor and pushing Dr. Eggman up against the top of the dome. Sonic watched in  
horror as the pillar cracked beneath and sent the dome smashing into the edge of the chamber. Glass  
shattered and Dr. Eggman screamed. The pillar totally gave away, and the dome took Dr. Eggman  
kicking and screaming into the coolant, electrified by the live wires in the ruins of Metal and Mecha-  
Sonic. Sonic watched as Dr. Eggman stopped struggling and slowly dropped to the bottom of the  
chamber.  
Sonic stood there in silence in what could have been eternity. The bubbles of Dr. Eggman's last  
breath disturbed the surface briefly, and then there was nothing. Sonic couldn't believe it. Ten years  
ago, Sonic played hookie from grade school and went to see what the fuss was. He had heard on the  
news that somebody was attacking South Island with animal-like robots. It had begun his life-long  
battle with Dr. Eggman. Now it was over. Sonic touched his cheeks and found there were tears in his  
eyes. He brushed them away angrily and looked at the door that led to the Chaos Throne Room.  
"If Dr. Eggman can't have the world," he said quietly, "Then no one will."  
With that, Sonic the Hedgehog ended his war with Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik, and went to save  
the world for the last time.  
  
  
**Chapter Nine**  
  
"My hands are beginning to hurt," Knuckles announced as his fist shattered the frame of another  
G.U.N. assault droid, sending pieces flying back into the seemingly endless line of robots.  
"Imagine how my back feels," Tails replied, spinning on his toes, his twin tails toppling the droids. A  
number of armed pods whizzed in and opened fire on the mobians.  
"We've got more high-baddies," Knuckles announced, tearing through the robots like they  
cardboard.  
"I'll get them," Tails replied, flying above their target range. Some tried to track the fox, but the tilt  
ended up flipping them and sending them crashing into the floor. Tails tackled the others, or split them  
open with his spinning tails.  
Knuckles winced and fell back a step as one of the droids manages to wing him. "We can't keep  
this up," he called.  
"I know," Tails called back, shoving a pod into a droid, destroying both, "But what else can we do?"  
"If Dr. Eggman could reprogram them to attack us and not him, I'm betting you can do the  
opposite," Knuckles replied, diving back into the fray.  
"But you need my help," Tails said.  
"I've caught my second wind," Knuckles lied, "I'll be fine."  
Tails hesitated, then dropped to the console he had been working at and began hacking into the  
system frantically. His eyes never left the screen, but he could hear Knuckles' breath getting ragged as  
the G.U.N. robots began to overpower him. Then, with a few more keystrokes, Tails found himself in  
command of the robots. He typed in the command to deactivate them, then turned to Knuckles.  
"Got it!" Tails said happily. Knuckles staggered over to the doorway and leaned against one of the  
now paralyzed robot. He was bruised, cut, and burned.   
"Those things know how to punch at close-quarters," Knuckles informed Tails with a wheeze.  
"Are you going to be okay?"  
"Yeah. Fine. Third wind's coming. Get that cloak down."  
Tails turned back to the console and sent his fingers flying over the keys. After a few minutes, he  
beamed. "We're visible."  
  
*****  
  
Rouge drummed her fingers on her control counter. It had been nearly twenty minutes, and the  
invisibility barrier hadn't gone down yet. There had been no time to equip the team with any form of  
communication, so the crew of the Egg Atlantis had to wait in silence.  
"Would you relax?" Nack asked with a sigh. "Being worried is not your style."  
"I've got something more important than jewels on the line this time," Rouge answered hotly.  
"Oh please," Nack groaned. "Why don't you handle things like Amy? She's got two lover-boys in  
there, and she's not pitching a fit."  
Rouge turned to look at Amy. The pink hedgehog was quiet serene, leaning up against the  
command throne and looking out to the sky over the ocean. "He's right," Rouge admitted, "You are  
taking all this well."  
Amy gave them a small, secretive smile. "It's because I know how it will end."  
Nack and Rouge exchanged puzzled looks. "You do?" they asked in unison.  
"Yes," Amy said with a nod. "It will have a relatively happy ending."  
"Relatively," Rouge asked, taking a step towards the hedgehog.  
Amy winked at her. "Don't worry. Your's is part of the happy."  
"Okay, the kid's creeping me out now," Nack said looking back to his console. The Egg Atlantis  
began to pull into it's arc again, just as the sky wavered. The ARK was visible once more. The Egg  
Atlantis roared only a few meters from it in its turn.  
"Everyone, get ready!" Rouge called over the intercom. "We're about to hit the ARK with the  
cannon." Rouge looked out into the sky that was turning before them. "Don't be in the path of the ray,  
Knuckles," Rouge murmured.  
  
*****  
  
Shadow looked down from his throne. The sound of the door into the Chaos Throne Room being  
shattered echoed through the chamber. The spiny shadow of Sonic preceded him all the way down the  
pathway leading to the altar. Sonic stood at the base of the stairs and glared up at the black hedgehog.  
"That didn't take you very long," Shadow observed.  
"Eggman is dead," Sonic replied, his voice hitching as he said the words.  
"Good," Shadow replied. "Now this world will know peace."  
"Not your kind of peace, faker!" Sonic exclaimed, charging up the stairs. Shadow got to his feet,  
and the two grappled. As they struggled, Shadow realized that their combat might damage the throne  
and the machinery that allowed him to absorb the power of the Chaos Emeralds so readily.  
"Let's take this outside, faker," Shadow said, stepping on one of the Chaos Emeralds. "Chaos  
Control!"  
Sonic blinked, the disorientation of the teleportation wearing off. He and Shadow were in one of  
the many non-descript hallways of the ARK. "Where are we?" he asked, his hands still locked with  
Shadow's.  
"One of the lower decks," the black hedgehog replied. "It doesn't really matter what damage is  
done here."  
As if to dispute his words, a loud hum suddenly grew in the room. The floor began to glow  
brilliantly beneath their feet. Then it was torn away from beneath them. Both hedgehogs leapt and  
pushed out on the hallway walls with their hands and feet. The last traces of the Egg Atlantis's energy  
beam trailed off into the distance. The Egg Atlantis itself roared beneath them, circling for the next shot.   
Sonic and Shadow exchanged looks, then looked down in unison.   
While the majority of the ARK's face had been vaporized, a few rails and bars were left. Some  
were legitimately attached to the ARK's frame, while others were free-floating due to Shadow's  
alteration of space and time. The hedgehogs looked at each other again, then dropped together onto  
one of the free-floating bars below. As soon as they landed, it began to fall. Thus began their daredevil  
battle in the sky.  
Sonic leapt to one of the more secure structures and turned, searching for Shadow. The black  
hedgehog flew the short distance from the falling beam to another secured skeleton using the jets in his  
shoes.  
"You're not only a faker," Sonic yelled, "You're a cheater, too!"  
"Tough luck, faker," Shadow shouted back, then leapt towards Sonic. The jets fired again, and  
Shadow had supremacy of the sky. Sonic leapt from the structure to a loose chain of free-floating  
beams. He jumped from beam to beam, sending them spiraling to the Earth below. Shadow would  
touch on one lightly enough to ground another lift-off, then would fly after Sonic. Sonic got to another  
stable set of beams and began to climb. Shadow hopped-flew up and spun around, one leg coming out  
and kicking Sonic in the head. Sonic yelped and dropped to a beam below. Shadow smiled and  
jumped down, not noticing the sparkle of blue starlight behind him.  
Shadow landed softly beside Sonic. "As I said before," the black hedgehog said softly, "Game  
over, faker."  
"How true," Ashura commented.  
Shadow spun around, only to get punched in the jaw. The black hedgehog went over the side, one  
gloved hand reaching out and snagging the bar. Sonic blinked, took Ashura's offered hand, and got to  
his feet. Ashura gave Sonic a tired look, then turned the look to Shadow.  
"You gave me a rotten emerald," he said.  
"A fake one," Shadow corrected.  
"Begone," Ashura snarled, then tried to stomp Shadow's hand. Shadow dropped before Ashura  
could crush his fingers, then fired his foot-jets and smashed head-first into Ashura's gut. Sonic grabbed  
Shadow around the waist, and all three hedgehogs went into the air.  
"Enough of this," Shadow growled, grabbing the fake emerald in Ashura's hand. "Chaos Control!"  
In a flash, they were gone. An instant later, the beam of the Egg Atlantis vaporized the remains, as  
well as another ten decks of the ARK.  
"Well would you look at that," Nack cackled as the Egg Atlantis went into its retreat from the ARK.  
"What?" Rouge asked. Her answer came soon enough. The South Island Royal Air Force had  
joined the fray. Hundreds of jets fired a plethora of missiles at the ARK, igniting the rocky side. Rouge  
looked down at here radar as a cloud of more jets and ships came on the screen.  
"Incoming force, identify yourself," Rouge said into the comm-system.  
"This is Madison of Beetle Troupe," the voice replied. "We're here to poach some eggs."  
"Happy hunting," the wing commander of the Royal Air Force replied. "But you better go when it's  
over, or we'll be forced to shoot you down."  
"Copy that," Madison replied.  
And so the G.U.N. came out of hiding, in full force, and began their assault on the ARK from all  
angles. Nack laughed in disbelief.  
"So now what do we do?" he asked.  
"Aim for the weakest area," Rouge replied. "It will take us a couple of circles to get the needed  
altitude, but we'll fire straight through the core. That's bound to sink the ARK. Hopefully our friends  
will feel the commotion and get out in time."  
"If not?" Nack asked.  
"If not, you're going snorkeling at gun-point until they're found," Rouge replied.  
"Yeah!" Amy added.  
"Heaven help me," Nack muttered.  
  
*****  
  
In a flash, the three hedgehogs collapsed on the pathway leading to the altar and throne. Sonic  
untangled himself from the others and looked around the room, perplexed.  
"I thought you just took us out of here," he said.  
"I've decided it's the safest place to kill you," Shadow replied, fighting and pushing off of Ashura.  
"Sonic's life belongs to me!" Ashura snarled, tackling Shadow.  
"Then you and your brother will share the same fate," Shadow said, working his feet up between  
them. "Killed by the ultimate life-form!" Shadow fired the jets in his shoes. Ashura screamed as he  
went flying, chest burning. He splashed down in a pond of coolant and was silent. Sonic glowered at  
Shadow.  
"That was my brother!" he exclaimed.  
"Yes," Shadow replied, panting, "And he wanted to kill you."  
"That's besides the point," Sonic replied. "Let's finish this, Shadow."  
Shadow smirked and glanced towards the throne as the ARK rumbled. "Soon, I will show you the  
true power of Chaos Control." The black hedgehog's jets flared and he rocketed to the steps. Sonic  
took off after him in a sprint. They climbed the stairs and made a dive for the throne. Sonic watched in  
horror as Shadow began to pull the power of the Chaos Emeralds into himself. Gritting his teeth, Sonic  
did the same. In the pond of coolant, Ashura raised his head groggily. The entire ARK began to  
shake, and the noise seemed to be growing in the room. Heaving for breath, Ashura scrambled over to  
the fake emerald. He clutched it in a weak hand and said the magic words.  
  
*****  
  
"Noah will be so sad," Nack joked as the Egg Atlantis fired its last shot. The titanic beam smashed  
into the weakened rocky wall, cut through the Chaos Throne Room, and shot out the other side. As  
Rouge had predicted, it was the last straw for the space colony. From the corner of her eye, she  
watched as two figures made a desperate flight for the Tornado as it circled behind the Egg Atlantis. A  
few minutes later, Tails and an injured Knuckles entered the command center.  
"Tails!" Amy exclaimed, running over and leaping upon the fox.   
"You jerk," Rouge scolded softly, gingerly running her hands along Knuckles' body, "I told you to  
come back in one piece."  
"I'm still here," Knuckles chuckled in reply. "More or less."  
"Whoa! What was that?" Nack exclaimed.  
"What was what?" Amy asked.  
"While you guys were saying your 'I Dos', two things shot up out of the ARK as it crashed into the  
ocean!"  
"What color were they?" Tails asked.  
"Gold and silver, I think," Nack replied.  
"Sonic," Amy gasped.  
  
  
**Chapter Ten**  
  
Super Sonic was locked with Hyper Shadow as the super-powered hedgehogs went blasting out  
of Earth's atmosphere. Raw energy trailed after them, making them appear to be comets. They came  
to a stop high above the planet and shot away from each other.  
"You idiot!" Hyper Shadow roared, his voice somehow making it to Super Sonic despite the  
vacuum of space. "I was going to save the world!"  
"By conquering it?" Super Sonic scoffed. "You can't make world peace at gun-point. What about  
your promise to Maria?"  
"I am fulfilling it!" Hyper Shadow roared, angry tears forming in his eyes. "With me in control, there  
would be no G.U.N., or anything like it! The innocents would not have to die! Justice would prevail!   
The people would be happy!"  
"You can't force people to be happy," Super Sonic replied, relaxing a little. So this was why  
Shadow had joined forces with Dr. Eggman. It was a twisted vision of helping people. "You would  
only inspire fear."  
"Only in the ignorant," Hyper Shadow snapped.  
"Shadow, I'm one of the good guys, right?" Super Sonic asked.  
"I thought you were," Hyper Shadow replied.  
"If I'm one of the good guys, and you're doing the right thing, then why are we fighting?"  
"Because you can't see my vision!"  
"It's because it's cracked, Shadow!"  
Hyper Shadow shook his head, his emotions having reached the limit of his understanding. He had  
felt that same way when he watched Maria die, and when he watched Creed level the mountain village.   
There was no dealing with the pain, anger, and frustration.  
"Shadow," Super Sonic said quietly, "We won't last in this form much longer. Let's head back to  
Earth and start over..."  
"I will start over," Hyper Shadow said, his voice hitching, his body trembling with rage. "But you  
will not live to ruin the future again!" In a blaze of golden light, Hyper Shadow rocketed into Super  
Sonic. The gold hedgehog grunted, then shot away in a blaze of blue fire.  
"I'm trying to reason with you," Super Sonic said, his patience wearing thin.  
"If there's one thing my life has taught me," Hyper Shadow snarled, "It's that there is no reason in  
life. Not yet. I will bring reason. And order. And happiness!"  
"Not likely," Super Sonic muttered. He shot forward, and Hyper Shadow acted in suit. The gold  
and blue comets blazed about each other, the impact making small thunder-claps on the Earth below.   
Super Sonic and Hyper Shadow found themselves equals, even when the power of the Chaos  
Emeralds was with them. The collisions became fewer, and slower, until Hyper Shadow simply floated  
up to Super Sonic, sobbing. Super Sonic hugged Hyper Shadow, then held him by the shoulders and  
looked at him, trying to find his eyes.  
"I want to make them happy," Hyper Shadow sobbed, "Can't you see that?"  
"I do too," Super Sonic replied. "Rouge says you went to Eggman because you didn't have any  
experience with taking over the world, right?"  
"Yes," Hyper Shadow replied.  
"Well, me and Tails and Amy and all the others, we know how to make the people happy. We've  
been doing it ever since we took up the fight against Robotnik."  
Hyper Shadow let out a burst of laughter amid his tears. "Are you offering to teach me?"  
"Yep," Super Sonic replied with a smirk.  
Hyper Shadow looked up at Super Sonic, amazed. "But I tried to kill you. I've fought you every  
step of the way."  
Super Sonic shrugged. "The past is behind us, and I go too fast to look back. What about you?"  
Hyper Shadow shook his head in disbelief, a smile finally coming to his face. "There is so much  
more to you than just looking like me," he muttered, then looked down at the Earth. "But I'm not nearly  
as fast as you are. I cannot let the fifty-year old past go, much less my last mistake. I cannot face the  
people of Earth again. Not yet."  
"I understand," Super Sonic replied, and looked down at the blue sphere below. "You know...I  
don't have much of a direction now either."  
"No?"  
"Nope. With Eggman dead, I'm out of work." Sonic smirked a little, but the thought that Dr.  
Eggman was dead still saddened him. "I don't have much to go back to on Earth."  
"You have your friends."  
"Yeah, but I'm used to adventuring without them and checkin' in from time to time."  
"So what do we do?" Hyper Shadow asked.  
Super Sonic smirked and looked at Hyper Shadow. "Let's give them something to remember, then  
call it a day."  
"We don't have much power left," Hyper Shadow warned.  
"We'll have enough," Super Sonic assured him.  
  
*****  
  
Far below, the Egg Atlantis had come to a stop in the ocean. The G.U.N. forces were quickly  
retreating, and the Royal Air Force was heading home. Atop the Egg Atlantis, the heros stood and  
watched the sky. The sun was just beginning to set, and darkness was just beginning to take the sky.   
The fight above had quieted. Then, the onlookers watched as the blazing blue comet of Super Sonic  
collided with the brilliant golden comet of Hyper Shadow. Thunder rumbled in the skies, and a brilliant  
flash shot from the impact. Then all was silent. The heros waited in silence for many a tense minute.   
The silence was broken by the sound of sniffling.  
"They're gone," Big whimpered.  
"No," Amy whispered, then buried her face in Tails' shoulder. The young fox looked up at the sky,  
devastated. Knuckles and Rouge lowered their heads head. Tikal dropped to her knees and began a  
prayer for both the hedgehogs. Nack removed his hat and studied the sky a moment longer, then left  
the mourning company, mounted the Marvelous Queen, and headed for South Island. The sun set, and  
the sky was littered with stars. Nothing fell from them. Nothing gold. Nothing blue.  
  
  
**The Last Chapters**  
  
[Of the Children]  
  
Tails sighed and plucked an out-dated push-pin from the map in the apartment he shared with Amy.   
The map was sparsely marked now. The trial had ended with the incarcerations of the top G.U.N.  
officials. Since no nation wanted to house the criminals, they were locked away on Prison Isle under  
guard of U.N. troops. A number of the rogue troops turned themselves in while others pledged their  
allegiance to a nation. In the end, the rogue troupes of G.U.N. were harmless. The once global military  
force was dust.  
"Oh would you give that up?" Amy sighed, coming in from the patio.  
"It's a hobby," Tails replied with a smirk.  
"Honestly, Miles," Amy said, rolling her eyes.   
Miles, as he had come to call himself now, laughed. "How's Birdy?" he asked.  
"Just fine. His and Theta's babies are going to hatch soon!"  
"That's great," Tails said, "But Theta?"  
"What's wrong with that name?" Amy asked indignantly.  
"Nothing, hon, nothing," Miles said, "But why a Greek letter?"  
"Because Birdy's parents were Beta and Gamma, remember?"  
"Right, right," Miles said, waving the subject off. He looked up to the late afternoon sky, a mask of  
sadness haunting his features.  
"You're thinking of him, aren't you?" Amy asked, coming over and hugging the fox.  
"Yeah," Miles replied, putting one arm around the hedgehog. "There are times where I can accept  
it, and times where I can't believe I'll never see him again."  
"I don't know about 'never'," Amy said, her voice distant.  
Miles' fur prickled. "No?" he asked.  
"No," Amy replied, then returned to the world. She smiled and him and kissed him on the cheek.   
"Come on, let's get some dinner."  
"Sounds good," Miles replied, kissing Amy on the nose. The children, reaching their young adult  
lives, moved on.  
  
[Of the Treasure Hunters]  
  
Knuckles sat in a small canteena, his shades gleaming as they reflected the sun. About his neck, he  
wore the a brilliant shard of the Master Emerald. It was the one of the only two he and Rouge had  
found in the past year. He sipped his drink lightly, enjoying its cool texture contrasted the hot feeling in  
the rest of his body. Suddenly, Nack was thrown into a chair at Knuckles table. Rouge pulled up  
another chair and rested her head on the heel of her palm, the other hand somewhere on Nack's  
person, threatening with her claws.  
"Hey Nack," Knuckles said with a smile.  
"It's Fang at the moment," the weasel muttered.  
"He's good," Rouge said, looking at the echidna. "It took me a full thirty seconds to find him and  
take him out."  
"Very good," Knuckles complimented, raising a toast to the weasel.  
"Look," Nack whined, "You guys have made a monopoly of the treasure-hunting market. If  
someone wants something found, they call the Hunter Couple. Not Nack. I've had to pay my meals  
with blood money."  
"Being a sniper is dangerous business," Rouge cautioned.  
"Especially when you're gunning for the Hunter Couple," Knuckles added, leaning so close to Nack  
that the weasel could see only his own face reflected in the shades.  
"Right," Nack stammered. "Can I go now?"  
"His gun?" Knuckles asked.  
"Dismantled," Rouge replied.  
Knuckles nodded. "Thank you dear."  
"My pleasure."  
Knuckles stood, walked behind Nack, then firmly took him up by his neck and tail. With the weasel  
protesting loudly and with many the obscenity, Knuckles flung him out into the dry dusty land. The  
echidna chuckled and walked back to his table, where he pulled his chair up to Rouge.  
"And to think," the bat mused, "One year ago, you would have preferred to punch me rather than do  
this."  
Knuckles lightly traced the Master Emerald shard that rested on Rouge's chest. "Well, I've adopted  
the philosophy of 'Make love, not war.'"  
Rouge giggled and kissed the echidna on the forehead. "That you did, you animal."  
Knuckles smirked and held a kiss with the bat. They stood, and Knuckles took off the game hat he  
had acquired in his year of journey. He paid the tab with a gold coin he had liberated from a sunken  
ship. The treasure hunters laced their arms about each others' waist and walked out into the dusty heat.  
  
[Of the Immortals]  
  
The Master Emerald remained shattered. Its power slowly drained from Angel Island, and the  
continent sank into to sea a few feet a year. As the days passed, Tikal began to notice a change within  
her. She also noticed that she was growing taller, and into the shape of a womanly echidna. A month  
since the destruction of the ARK, and Tikal was a young woman. But the rapid change only unsettled  
her for a short time. It seemed right for her to do this, and so she let it come. The Master Emerald was  
gone, and she was finally free. But the loss of its power meant other things as well.  
The chao began to leave the island. They were already accessible all over the world, but new eggs  
stopped appearing and the infants became bolder. By the time Tikal had aged into her prime, only a  
handful of reluctant chao remained, and even they left in time. Chaos remained in the altar the entire  
time, but it changed as well. It grew quiet and much more placid. Chao could come in howling, and  
Chaos would merely ripple. Unless the threat was real, it did not come out anymore.   
Tikal hadn't been totally alone. A few friends Knuckles had made on the island came looking for  
him and found her instead. She spent many a day conversing with Espio on topics Tikal had thought  
she alone cared about. She ventured into the beautiful interior of the island at the irresistible insistence  
of Charmy. She had laughed, danced, and sung with Vector and the wide array of music he had to  
offer. She even had a short affair with Mighty, but after the passion of a few wild nights were behind  
them, they agreed friendship was the best course. It had been Tikal's idea, and she hoped she hadn't  
hurt Mighty.  
But a year had passed. Age wore heavy on Tikal now, and her adventures with the Chaotix had  
come to an end. They would visit with her, and she would seek them out on occasion, but mostly she  
sat next to the fountain. Today, to her horror, she found it dry. At the top of the alter, where the  
Master Emerald had once proudly stood, was a chao egg. Tikal took it, rocked it, and caressed it until  
a tiny chao hatched. It was a deep blue, with glazed, green eyes. It looked exactly like a miniature  
Chaos. Tikal smiled and petted it, its emotion dot immediately turning into a heart shape.  
"You never die, do you?" Tikal asked softly. "You just complete a cycle, don't you? It makes me  
wonder if the Controller has been removed before."  
Chaos the chao chirred in reply.  
Tikal smiled and petted it again. "I won't be here much longer," she said softly, then smiled out at  
the sea. "But then again, who knows where I will be after this life?"  
  
[Of the Hedgehogs]  
  
The mountainous region around what was called 'Pumpkin Hill' always managed to look bleak.   
Even as the sun sank low in the sky, what would otherwise be a beautiful sunset merely gave the  
surrounding stone a dull orange tinge. What didn't help matters was the perpetually mournful low howl  
of the wind. And despite the unappealing scenery, Ashura couldn't think of a better place to be. For  
this situation, that was.   
The green and black hedgehog stood atop one of the tapering hills, the ruins of a once prosperous  
mining operation baring their rusted metal skeletons to him. A few feet away, a headstone marked the  
passing of some nameless worker who had been long forgotten. Death and lost potential seemed to be  
a heavy theme in the surroundings, and still Ashura found the setting perfect. The wind whipped around  
his bare arms, and Ashura suppressed a shiver.  
"You have to show off in everything, don't you?" a snide voice chided from behind him. "Can't even  
admit that you're cold."   
Ashura turned to see a double altered image of himself. One hedgehog was blue from head to foot,  
the other black with red highlight along each spine and limb. The green hedgehog sneered.  
"I knew your obituaries were too good to be true," he muttered.  
"What?" Sonic and Shadow asked in unison.  
"The reports said you two killed each other."  
"Hey," Sonic laughed.  
"It worked," Shadow laughed. The hedgehogs gave each other a high-five.  
Ashura rolled his eyes in disgust. "So, are you guys going to stay hidden forever?"  
"Naw," Sonic said. "I have to check in on Tails and Amy at some point."  
"And we'll have to hunt down the Hunter Couple, just to say we did," Shadow said with a smile.  
"If I knew someone would believe me, I'd blab your survival all over the world," Ashura threatened.  
"Yeah, but they wouldn't," Sonic replied.  
"So you won't," Shadow added.  
Ashura shuddered, but not because of the cold. Now there really were two Sonics. It was  
revolting.  
"So," Sonic said, "What about that fake emerald?"  
"What about it?" Ashura growled.  
"What did you do with it?" Shadow asked.  
"After I used it to teleport back to South Island, I ditched it," Ashura said with a sigh. "It's in a  
landfill somewhere."  
"What a waste," Sonic said, mocking contempt.  
"Ah, but look who you're talking about," Shadow added snidely, causing Sonic to laugh.  
"I'm so glad we had out little get-together," Ashura fumed, then leapt onto one of the rails and rode  
it out of sight. Sonic and Shadow turned and watched him go, then stood on the windswept crag in  
silence for a moment.  
"We've got a lot of catching up to do," Shadow observed. "Where do we start?"  
"Big," Sonic answered.  
"The cat?" Shadow asked.  
"Yup," Sonic answered, hoping onto the rail. "I promised him a year ago that I'd go fishing with him  
once we escaped G.U.N."  
Shadow smirked, the image of Commander Creed flashing in his mind briefly. "Race you to the  
bottom," Shadow called, leaping onto the other rail and gliding into the distance.  
"Hey! Wait up, faker!" Sonic laughed, crouching and giving chase.  
  
~A new day brings New Adventure,  
But for now,  
Rest Easy Heros ~  
  
THE END 


End file.
